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Image provided by: Suffolk Cooperative Library System
Come See Our New Spa Showroom! 12 On Display! New Retail Mours wo wow . p o o l do c t or . c Staller Center for the Arts mus The Aquila Theatre Comm in William Shakespeare's 4 | Arguably the greatest play $ ever written ST / LLER‘C‘ENTEW -I Sculptor Slim Cook __. captures exploration and discovery in his art BY PATRICIA PROVEN When asked how his passion for f mechanical creations developed, the Shoreham artist who recently com- _ pleted an interactive water sculpture - for one of Suffolk County's most active public libraries harked back to his childhood in suburban Oklahoma. James \Slim\ Cook and his sib- lings - whose father was a painter and carpenter - spent much of their youth in Tulsa making their own toys. Cook created castles out ofgrocery bags. He and his sister constructed paper dolls, and the dolls* playground was a wallpaper sample that depleted \a park, with tables and wells.\ He and his brothers, whom Cook compared to the character of Sid from Toy Stor {minus the malice) often recombined parts of old toys to make something new. \If a toy broke, we wouldn't throw it away,\ said Cook. who also recalls a fas- cination with dinosaurs. \We were unusu- al in the sense that we were just way more skilled than anybody else.\ By the time Cook was 12, his older brothers David and Fred owned a shop building cars and motorcycles, which paved the way for his first paying job - air brushing designs onto Harley \chopper\ gas tanks for such clients as Hell's Angels. Today. the seeds of resourcefulness in Stim Cook have burgeoned into public art works that \capture the passion of explo- ration and discovery through the use of pose and sculpture.\ according to a description released by Cook. Even at his height of six feet, six inches, the artist is dwarfed by his works, which have ranged from eight to 30 feet. Through his most recent project, he continues his knack for reassembling ordinary things by transforming a swim- ming pool pump, electronic motion sen- sors and pieces of metal into the new. Reading Garden Sculpture at Middle Country Library. The Reading Garden. funded by Middle Country Library Foundation and Photo by Patricia Proven Slim Cook with model of sculpture he created for the Middte Country Public Library shiny copper figures and into the pool. When there are people standing al each of the three books simultaneously. however, the water shoots out the branch- es of the tree sculpture. With its elements of movement. sur- prise and fantasy, the Reading Garden seems to fascinate children and adults alike. Cook and library director Sandy Feinberg said. However, there are also symbolic meanings to be gleaned from the piece. Feinberg said that the library \asked for an interactive piece\ to portray the idea that \Middle Country doesn't stand alone.\ \We have a lot of wonderful services, most of them developed in partnership with other people\ in the community, she said. Cook also sees the garden as a metaphor for the library's role in modern society. With the sculpture, as with the library. he said, \In order to get the full effect. you have to work together with other peo- ple. We're rapidly losing that activity of interacting directly with other people.\ Citing the potential to download all sorts of research and entertainment media elec- tronically, he said, \We're losing the need for libraries. .. It's not just a place to find a book. it really is a center for people to come together.\ Since the outdoor sculpture will be exposed to the elements. Cook coated the ## . Col. ”f—Jhemewvbrkw < Sunday, November 20,- 7Mpm~mn Swm‘ ' Stany E ty mmwmmwmmmm) “fin!“ um WM“!!! ae. 5 € H 2 Friends of the Middle Country Library, will be dedicated during a ceremony on Friday, November 4 from 8:30 to 10 am. it commet of a 22-by-4#t foot brick encased pool that contains copper, alu- minum and stainless steel figures, maten- als that were chosen to harmonize with matenals already used in the library building. The figures include a 15-foot \tree of knowledge\ rising from an island flanked by two winged muses, a pirate ship, plant forms and three open books. all of which double as working fountains. Each book is inscribed with a message written by Cook, one relating to \Science and Fantasy, another to \Art Culture and History,\ and the third to \Mystery and Adventure.\ When someone stands in front of a book, a motion sensor mounted above the sculpture goes off, opening a valve that then squirts water through the On the cover: New scuipture to be unveiled at tomorrow as well as several other - works already on display. Photos courtesy of Sin Cook copper figures with clear epoxy to protect _- them from discoloration However, he intentionally left the tree uncoated. Over ume, sulfur cthoxtde in the ar will reget with the copper in the tree. giving it a greenish tinge and a textured appearance. The sculpture is accentuated by ever- greens that surround the back oval of the pool, a design developed by landscaping consultant Michael Opisso. The Reading Garden is not Cook's first public art work that features moving things. In his sculpture of the legendary Princess of the Lake that overhangs a fireplace at Sachem Public Library, rising heat causes sheets of metal to waver beneath blue Plexiglas, creating the iflu- sion of rippling water The Middle Country Library sculpture is, however, the first that responds to its audience. Cook, as a fan of the Quentin Tarantino films, said he got the idea for this particular type of interactive fountain from his favorite, Kill Bill, in which a Japanese garden is the backdrop to the culminating fight scene between Uma Thurman and Lucy Liv. \I saw the movie while I was building this,\ he said. \It just Continued on page B17
