Klaatu

 

Klaatu takes its name from the humanoid alien visitor in the 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still. Klaatu who comes in peace, delivers a prophetic warning to Earth’s inhabitants and a universal message of equivalence. The figure of Klaatu, humanoid in the film, is cycloptic and sentinel-like in character, and this similarity finds expression in this cabinet. In contrast, while Klaatu is monochrome, this interpretation uses ribbons of concentric colour to dress the body and the legs in a uniform, giving the piece an abstract anthropomorphic quality.

Klaatu / Cabinet / 2020
Custom dyed rye straw, Maple wood, brass
160 (h) x 42.5 (w) x 42.5 (d) cm
1/1

Acquired for the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Australia (2021)
Image by Victoria Zschommler.