Kurt Flecksing

Arc-Terra

Materials:  Steel—modular structure made up of 30 pieces that bolt together)
Dimensions: 4.5' x 14' x 9',
Location:  Johnson Drive & Roe Blvd

Arcterra


 Nature is referenced in just about all structures, be they physical, social, political or meta-physical. Contemporary materials are fascinating in that through process they are removed from nature (often with consequences) yet still reference the natural environment and natural forms. Arcterra references much in nature, but is separated on many levels, and although situated in a "natural" environment has little connection with this site. Through this contradiction I can explore and challenge our imagination and perception of our relationship with nature.

Bio

I am currently studying fine art at the Kansas City Art Institute in the sculpture department.  Previously, I resided in Colorado since 1988, with a year spent in Alaska in 1993.  My main focus for those years was a recreational lifestyle consisting of rock and ice-climbing, skiing, mountain biking and generally spending time outside in the natural environment of the inter-mountain west.  Hours spent traipsing through forest can give one much time for contemplation, and I  began spending more time creating things as a way of processing.  Only now am  I uncovering and exposing the vast mine of information the wilderness experience can offer.

 

I am fascinated by relationship to environments, built and natural, and layers of underlying structures, literal and otherwise, in addition to references to the organic in un-natural materials and form, and issues of contradiction in materials and representation.  I question how things appear based on assumptions, expectations and security garnered from knowledge and previous experience.  Through my exploration of natural environments I explore issues of scale, from myth to the miniature, challenging our knowledge and experience of the internal and external environments.