Woody De Othello creates and mutates everyday recognizable objects, depicting them in various psychological and emotional states to communicate his ideas with a humorous tone...

Woody De Othello creates and mutates everyday recognizable objects, depicting them in various psychological and emotional states to communicate his ideas with a humorous tone. These objects, such as doorknobs, AC vents, lights and TV sets, are rendered in an uncanny fashion with a sense of play, emotional intuition, and surrealism that provokes viewers to reimagine their relationship with the world around them. Othello uses a hand-building technique called “slab construction.” Building the ceramic sculptures up about six to eight inches at a time, he pushes the forms to a point where they near collapse. Working the clay to a point of precariousness adds to their psychological weight and creates a sense of movement and individual emotion. Othello’s work interrogates the tension between animate vs. inanimate, energy vs. exhaustion, and hospitality vs. hostility.

For Cityline Sunnyvale, Othello will continue the scope of his work in terms of anthropomorphizing and adding emotion to inanimate objects. In Fountain, Othellow will draw upon the form of a faucet, inspired by a sink in his apartment that has separate faucet heads for hot and cold water. The artist was intrigued by this separation, which he understood as analogous to polarized moods or temperaments. This basic observation was a launching point for a more complex meditation on the implications of the simple act of turning on and off a faucet to access water. Specifically: the question of who has access to clean, lead-free water, and the ways in which water has been swept up by our polarized political landscape. Othello draws parallels between moving to California during a period of devastating drought, growing up in Florida and hearing his family’s complaints about the lawn dying because of limited access to water, and to Yoruba, the pre-colonial religion for which Oshun, the river goddess, has the power to create and destroy life and is one of the most powerful deities in the faith.

In Fountain, these two “hot” and “cold” functions are collapsed into one totem, which leans against a third faucet that has been tied off altogether. The artist writes, “This piece connects broader environmental concerns about water to a personal, domestic, or everyday state. The side with two water heads brings up ideas of water as it relates to abundance or consumption, something integral to our everyday experience. In contrast, the opposing knotted up fauced speaks to issues of scarcity or conservation. Using this recognizable object, I hope people can relate personally with the scale of the importance of the resource, and that passersby will stop and reflect upon their own relationship to it.”

ONE THOUSAND SUNS is a dynamic sculptural shade canopy that fosters pedestrian interactions and establishes a lively collective focal point for Downtown Sunnyvale...

ONE THOUSAND SUNS is a dynamic sculptural shade canopy that fosters pedestrian interactions and establishes a lively collective focal point for Downtown Sunnyvale. It is meant to reflect the incredible diversity of Sunnyvale’s residents and visitors. By supporting the artwork with four clusters of slender columns, the artwork creates an open, shaded and inviting space for people to fluidly move through on a daily basis. It also creates a dramatic backdrop for pedestrians to congregate, sit and view the play of shadow and light from many vantage points.

Building on the potential of the area to be a focal point and community crossroads, the cellular cylindrical surfaces of the artwork are meant to inspire spontaneous interactions and playfulness by both adults and children who might enjoy spending time underneath the artwork’s intricate organic structure and kaleidoscopic skin. The geometry of the artwork is an exploration in translating mathematical principles into physical form. A nonuniform circle-packing algorithm defines the three-dimensional structure and skin of the artwork. While the form of the artwork would be fixed, the play of light, reflection and color would change throughout the day and season. The site specific installation invites visitors to experience the interplay of pattern, light, art and science in a way that is both playful and contemplative.

Photo Credit: Futureforms