Tigibus, Bruce Beasley

At first glance, this sculpture looked like water flowing downstream towards the ocean. After I looked at it for a few seconds, I saw something else, a piece of clay taking on a new shape. This is what made me interested in Tigibus…how you can see many different things in one transparent, acrylic sculpture. When I first saw Tigibus, some words that came to mind were: flowing, cold, calm, relaxing, and transparent. Later, deception came to me because the piece makes you think of several different things at one time. It can look one way, but it can also look another way. The artist, Bruce Beasley, has an entire series of these transparent works. The Spencer Museum of Art obtained this piece in 1968 when Beasley was making his Acrylic Series. During that time period, Bruce Beasley experimented with different materials that might create a large transparent figure. He found that using a special type of autoclave chamber in processing the acrylic made it possible. This specialized process has since been used on large-scale aquariums and deep sea research vessels. Beasley’s acrylic series consists of twenty-seven pieces in museums around the world. Tigibus reminds me of the time I went to the beach in New Jersey.. I remember feeling the waves lapping up against my knees. When I look at Tigibus, I can still feel that water on my legs. The form of the piece and the way light passes through it makes me remember this feeling. As a Kansas kid, I don’t get to travel to a beach very often, maybe once every few years when I visit my family in New Jersey. That feeling of having the water wash up on me is a great sense of relaxation. Tigibus brings me back to this feeling; I hope it gives you a similar feeling of peace and calm. This has been Torin Yung with another Bulldog Art Tour.