Page 51 - Studio International - June 1972

on the appropriate surface. The early models this band is set within a shallow depression.
were surfaced with rayon and the texture is The lawn is a cambered slab. Rockery is four
fine-grained and powdery. Gradually, nylon feet long and three and a half feet wide and has
replaced rayon and when Abrahams acquired an a collection of simulated limestone clustered in
electrostatic flocker the surfaces changed a U-formation. Jagged chunks of rock and
conspicuously. Abrahams began to produce scree beds intermingle with conform trees and
some of the garden models in replicate editions. assorted vegetation. The trees are craggy and
With an electrostatic application the flock is the vegetation is closely packed and lumpy,
coacervated within a gridded hopper and like cauliflower. The rockery is formed around
subsequently pushed through the mesh of the a spongy lawn. The rock garden is somewhat
hopper in a shower of discrete particles. congested and the colours are strident: the
Consequently, the surfaces are piled and piece resembles a Venusian landscape. This
fibrous, like carpets. The fibres are precision hallucinatory quality is less credible.
cut in Switzerland and are between a quarter Ammerdown Park is one of an edition of six. A
and three millimetres in length. Three grids squat, partially visible pedestal or gate pier
are available for the electrostatic flocker: fine, supports an overgrown, cumulous mass of
medium, and coarse. By varying the grid size topiary. The topiary is eleven inches high and Retreat 1970. Mixed media, 8 x 9 x 4 ft
with the flock millimetre (1/4, 1/2, 1, 2, and 3) tilts to the left. Its surface is finely bristled; the
considerable textural variety is created. It's pedestal is patined. There are several editioned sculptures. The pieces are aggregates—no
important to note that the sculptures are made pieces : In Distant View a rolled lawn forms a longer single things. The problem is amplified
without excessive labour; there is no triangle within a bulky, tumescent arbour. The in the unfinished Suburban Enclosure. This piece
craftsmanship about these things. Abrahams arbour is an irregular V-shape. A blurred, was shown at the Feigen gallery in New York.
neither toils nor spins. The technique is a diminutive mock-stone statuary figure is Its scale is environmental : a large rectangular
familiar one in industry; it's available and placed near the apex of the V. Terraced Steps is lawn is enclosed by a low wooden fence with an
Abrahams uses it. He often achieves a a topiarized mound, thirteen inches high. The open gate. On the outside of the enclosure a
pointillist or trichromatic effect by applying, mound is divided by an irregular series of tall, spindle-shaped yew is placed at each corner
say, three different fibre lengths in separate steps, steeply inclined. The mound is turreted of the fence. On the lawn are four squat
colours through a medium grid. The result is a and tilts towards the axis. The topiary thus geometric topiaries. The work is an
pronounced surface variegation. The fibres are forms an undulating avenue or alley. accumulation of parts. This vitiates the idea.
dyed in accordance with the artist's instructions. Abrahams's gardens resist the usual notions Retreat, Rockery with Pool, and The Wall
The garden models are often intensely of sculpture. This resistance suggests a are some of the larger sculptures. Retreat 1970
iridescent: opalescent bristles intermingle with scepticism towards current ideas of making is an alcove seat set within the hollow of a large
dense metallic chunks; striated pinks and scarlet objects. In contrast to the publicly avowed tumescent topiary. The base of the sculpture is
radiate in coral-like masses; random streaks of substantive nature of contemporary sculpture a foam slab inlaid with a rounded margin of
aquamarine stain the surfaces like verdigris. Abrahams's work looks decidedly superficial. crazy paving. The seat is a simulated concrete
The surfaces are tawdry and meretricious. This quality is, in fact, an organizing principle: garden bench in a mock Georgian design. The
Foliated emeralds and greens alternate with the sculpture is a devious inventory of topiary is flocculent and looms. The recent
powdery limes; heavily dusted patches of dingy superficialness. The form of each piece is Rockery with Pool is a low irregular arrangement
yellow are marginated with mottled olives, essentially that of a shell : its outer surface is the of limestone rock in the form of a U-shape. An
picturesque blues, and prickly violet-greys. sculpture. This aspect has been an important oval pool is set within the U and is adjacent to
The gardens are obviously factitious. and consistent feature of Abrahams's work. The a narrow cambered mossy bank. The pool is a
The garden schemes are various. The sculptures are free-standing extended reliefs : dull grisaille in screen-printed plate glass. The
topiary is a common form and the usual cones, their surfaces are stratified and discontinuous. reflection of an overhanging leafy bough is
spheres, cubes, and arches are prominent. In the gardens this discontinuity is manifest in depicted on its surface; the reflected image is
Clipped arbours of box and yew, parterres, various cross-bedded planes which are usually slightly out of register; there are two screen-
rock gardens, and terraces are conspicuous. laminated or fictile; the latex integument often printed layers of glass; this creates a rippling
Crescent Yews is a topiary hedge in five sections. shrinks after application and the sculptures are effect. The surface of the rockery is strongly
The sections resemble loaves of bread and are thus reformed by the membranous skin. The maculated with a pied variegation of simulated
joined to form a semicircle within a rectangular textural richness and diffusion of the garden lichen, fungus, and assorted vegetation. The
lawn. A tiny crumpled bed of vegetation is image allows Abrahams to manoeuvre the Wall, a recent sculpture, is a right-angled course
placed within the crescent. The topiary has a surfaces with great facility : this disencumbers of brickwork overhung with a massive clump of
granular and porous texture. Sunken Pool is a him of the usual textural restrictions of vine-leaves. The sculpture is an L-shape with
terrace garden with a rectangular lily pond. The sculpture. With the exception of one or two the edge of its longer side broken and irregular.
piece is thirty inches long and fourteen inches deviant pieces the sculptures are conspicuously Incised on the surface of the wall is a stretcher
wide. There are three levels concentric to the single things. The exterior surface of the bond pattern of bricks. Around the base the
pool and the edge of each terrace is medially shell is thus either convex or concave. surface is stained with lichen and moss. The
transected by a flight of steps. A fastigiate Several pieces are aberrant. The rectangular sculpture is a little over five feet high and is
yew is depicted at each corner of the second pond in Sunken Pool is a sheet of Plexiglas and made of styrene with a latex skin. The wall is
level. The surface of the garden varies. The is conspicuously so; this makes it an object in dilapidated and seems barely capable of
terraces are powdery and fine and the yews are the sculpture. The rock garden in Rockery is a supporting the vine-leaves. The leaves are
coarsely grooved. The pool is vitreous. The collection of individual parts. These parts are clustered in discontinuous layers, alternately
sides of the model are rugged and steep. somewhat fussy: their overly detailed bulky and limp. Some of the leaves are finely
Blossom has two circular rose-beds configuration is in marked contrast to the detailed; most are schematic. The top layer is
symmetrically placed on the long axis of a schematic lawn. The lawn is little more than a spiky. The foliation is fibre-glass.
rectangular lawn. The flowers are solid cushions base and is thus secondary. The pool and the A closing cliché would be to discuss the
with a radiating texture of broken stria. rock garden are extrinsic to and consequently value of Abrahams's work; it is complex and
The base of each rose-bed is a convex band and appendages of the moulded surface of the profound. q
265