Gallery Visit #2

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This is The Unending Amends We've Made (Imperishable Wreath) in 2010 by Lauren Clay. It's acrylic on cut paper, papier mache, wire, and wood.

I think this piece does a good job of abstractly showing motion without being kinetic or depicting an object in motion. It's not how I would answer my own sustained investigation inquiry ('How do we view motion?'), but it's a very interesting piece to think about.
This piece is really interesting to me because of the simplicity of the shape, even though it probably wasn't very simple to assemble. I've been wanting to work with paper again for a future sustained investigation piece, and I think this is a really different take on paper mache that I haven't seen before. 
I really like how the colors transitions with the motion/direction of the small paper strips. There's a very clear movement/direction of the piece ('around and out'), which is made by the thin strips of paper and the direction is made more clear with the color change. The color change had to have been intentional... I wonder if the exact placement was intentional too (probably not, but it's interesting to think about). 
The placement of the strips with the color add a slight counter-clockwise motion to the piece, and the little teal-ish tail on the left adds a kind of... waterfall-like motion too. It's a circle, so the loop shape makes the motion feel continuous (even the tail part). I think that's really cool, and also very intentional.
The fact that it's a circular wreath could have made the piece very easily over-balanced... If that makes sense. If it was just the loop, no tail, there'd be no visual intrigue. There would've still been the looping motion but the piece wouldn't be interesting to look at. The tail makes it interesting, it makes the piece the right amount of unbalanced and adds to the motion. The color and over-all shape also contribute to that.
I think the title of 'imperishable wreath' is very fitting for this piece, it makes sense with the looping sensation I mentioned previously. It's a loop, so it's always giving itself the next path/step. I'm not sure how 'Unending Amends We've Made' relates to the piece, though. 
Overall, I'm not really sure how to feel about this piece. I think it looks cool, I love the color combination, but it's not something I'd make for my sustained investigation or otherwise. It's too simple in shape overall. But if my sustained investigation revolved around seeing motion in abstract ways, this would've been a good inspiration piece.

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