Gold Cylinder
1964/1967
23 x 17.5 x 12.5 cm
Found oil filter drum, bronze wire stamped with a pattern, frame, metal rods, motor
“In 1964, I found a dented wire wound oil filter in Monastiraki, the Athens flea market. I noticed that when I moved, sunlight reflected off the surface of the cylindrical filter in a fine line, would appear to oscillate just in the spot where the filter was dented. From this early observation, I realized that I could use reflected light to highlight changes made to a perfect geometrical form such as a cylinder.
Altering the surface of cylinders, which can be made of Perspex, aluminium, perforated metal or stainless steel rods, often minimally, I then coat them in a thin winding of enameled copper wire. The wire, often as thin as a human hair, acts as a reflecting surface. The cylinders are placed on turntables rotating at a constant speed. In them I use reflected light to see form unfold in a four-dimensional code. I was interested in the way a reflected line of light describes the altered surface of the cylinder and gives precise information about any changes made to its surface.” Liliane Lijn
