Art@Site www.artatsite.com Arik Levy BigRock California
Artist:

Arik Levy

Title:

BigRock

Year:
1999
Adress:
The Donum Estate
Website:
serving
In the first instance, it is difficult to get in contact with this artwork. The shining surface looks ‘cool’ and creates distance.
The glittering sloping surfaces reflects all of the surrounding context. This is wonderful. We see lavender, trees in the distance, the changes in the air.
This artwork is humble. Accordance with the height of the lavender, the artwork would be around twelve inches high. The natural form doesn’t ask much attention; this seems to be a stone.
It is not possible that an artwork takes less space than BigRock does. BigRock is at service for the context. This artwork asks you to look around: where are we, what's here, what's happening? Are you able to relax, to listen, to be attentive, to be open?
By Theo, www.artatsite.com

Vertaling
ten dienste
In eerste instantie is het moeilijk om in contact te zijn met dit kunstwerk. Het glimmende oppervlakte ziet er ‘cool’ uit en schept afstand.
De glimmende schuine oppervlakten reflecteren alles uit de omringende context. Dit is prachtig. We zien lavendel, bomen in de verte, de veranderingen in de lucht.
Dit kunstwerk is bescheiden. Uitgaande van de hoogte van de lavendel zal het kunstwerk niet hoger zijn dan dertig centimeter. De natuurlijke vorm vraagt geen enkele aandacht; dit lijkt een steen te zijn.
Het is niet mogelijk dat een kunstwerk minder ruimte inneemt, dan BigRock doet. BigRock staat ten dienste van de context. Dit kunstwerk vraagt je om rond te kijken: waar zijn we, wat is hier, wat gebeurt er hier? Lukt het je om te ontspannen, te luisteren, aandachtig te zijn, open te zijn?
Door Theo, www.artatsite.com

www.thedonumestate.com:
'I called it ‘BigRock’ as it was close to the world of minerals. But it was not even close to a real rock. The first sketch models were black and slowly I moved on to metal and stainless steel that brought in the reflections,' he explains. 'The effects my ‘BigRock’ creates, the discovery of a new work from every angle … the influence of the seasons and the light during the day, make the sculpture transform every second.
Levy is attracted to the prosaic nature of rocks, the fact that they can be pebbles and monuments, that they are the essence of nature and the basis of man-made structures. He is interested in the work of the artist Zhan Wang and the Chinese tradition of 'Scholars’ Rocks' that he explores, as seen in his work across the vineyards at Donum. Levy has noted that Zhan’s work is the opposite of his own: ' What is interesting is that they both carry the same name. I hope one day we can exhibit together and juxtapose our respective works.' e.
Arik Levy’s creative approach defies conventional boundaries of art and design. He bridges the world of the handmade and the industrial, the one-of-a-kind and the mass produced and blurs boundaries between the aesthetic and the practical. His sculpture also seems to move between different worlds.

www.thedonumestate.com:
Made of faceted, reflective stainless steel, Levy’s 'BigRock' is at once simple and complex, an element of nature and completely man-made. The work mirrors the world around it, so it both becomes part of the landscape and vanishes into it; on the one hand, the rock is solid, on the other it changes with the wind and the weather.
Levy began his series of 'BigRock' sculptures in 1999, as he was experimenting in his studio. He started sanding a piece of foam and kept working on it until it took the form of a geometrically faceted block. 'At the beginning I could not figure out when to stop or continue: it was more like a moment where I could not take anything and could not add anything. It had its proportions and qualities, balance, beauty and absence. Quickly I understood that these pieces are about what is missing, what I have taken off, absence,' he says.

www.pr-gallery.com:
Considering himself now more of "feeling" artist, Arik Levy continues to contribute substantially to our interior and exterior space, his work including public sculpture, as well as complete environments that can be adapted for multi use. "Life is a system of signs and symbols," he says, "where nothing is quite as it seems.

www.thedonumestate.com:
Tel Aviv-born, Paris-based Levy is something of a polymath: his website describes him as "artist, technician, photographer, designer, video artist". As a young man growing up in Israel, he dedicated his time to art and graphic design, as well as to another favorite pursuit: surfing.
Levy received a degree in industrial design from the Art Center Europe in Geneva in 1991; he then spent time in Japan making products and objects for exhibitions. Back in Europe, he turned his attention to making set designs for dance and opera. Finally he set up his own firm, focusing on industrial design, light and furniture design, partly in order to support his career as an artist. Art for him represents 'a way of life' and 'a place with no brief ... total freedom of expression, a virtual and physical place where I can use any tool, feeling, excuse or impulse to express what I feel.'

www.wikipedia.org:
Arik Levy was born in Tel Aviv. An artist and industrial designer, he attended the Art Center Europe in Switzerland where he graduated with distinction in 1991. Levy employs a multi-disciplinary approach in both the art and industrial design fieldsrks have been included in multiple museum collections. Levy lives and works in Paris.
After graduating at Art Center College of Design (Art Center, La Tour-de-Peilz, Switzerland), Levy went to Japan where he consolidated his ideas producing products and pieces for exhibitions. He then returned to Europe where he contributed his artistry to contemporary dance and opera creating set designs. Known for his sculptures and the "Rock" series, Levy's work is collected in public and private collections.