23.5 degrees

– that’s the tilt angle of the rotational axis of our earth in relation to the ecliptic, the earth’s plane of orbit around the sun.

This tilt of 23,5 degrees is the cause of the seasonal cycles on the earth, some make out it’s the foundation for life itself.

 This little sculpture expands, as the latest somehow inevitable turn, my “4 seasons’ tree” series because it isn’t strictly using a tree anymore as a frame work to hang-on, as it were, a colour scheme representing the seasons.

The single, if not singular, tree made way at times before to a whole grove of trees or even a planet full of them, with the seasons’ colour pattern subdued and secondary due to more emphasized planetary and astronomical aspects.

Partly a spin off from the wasps’ nests I made recently ( for who’s interested but hasn’t seen them yet: https://peterbinder.net/2015/05/28/wasp-architecture-my-friend-wasps-window/ ) in terms of technical similarity, it is also a logical step or continuation as far as my “4 seasons’ trees” are concerned, though I will have more painting to do on the theme, 2D that is.

And possibly change the name in keeping with its “evolution” & transformation…

Thinking too hard about an appropriate back drop for taking photographs of it, the most obvious, close-to-home eluded me initially in its simplicity and self-evidence, as is so often the case: painted on a large old roller blind from a skip (versatile but not very reliable source for all sorts of materials…) the “4 seasons’ tree no.30” with its zodiacal constellations relating to the seasons wasn’t only big enough, but the closest 2D relation to this latest 3D arrival.

In fact, the photos as thumbnails, with little discernible detail, bear a perplexing resemblance to shots from space!

I also want to thank Michael Gibbs in Callan for the state-of-the-art eartalyte bush and stainless steel shaft, undeservedly hidden in the centre of the globe ( yes, this thing actually spins, at 23.5 degrees…).