David McCracken

Past Exhibition
  • Orange Bomb
  • Orange Bomb
  • Orange Bomb
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Orange Bomb, 2015,
Stainless steel, paint, 1200 x 600 x 600mm

David McCracken’s Orange Bomb was born out of an admiration for the aerodynamic purity and formal beauty of the 'grand slam' bombs and rockets designed by Barnes Wallis during World War II.

As McCracken himself says: “I have a strong drive to make beautiful objects...I see the language of objects as immeasurably rich and deep.” There lies an awful gravitas to the context of our understanding of this particular object; what the sculpture signifies and the inherent intention of a bomb. McCracken, however, sees the language of form and object as a struggle between a shape’s literal and figurative connotations. His intention is to make work that contains – in fact is built around a fundamental contradiction – in this case between material, vernacular and form. “I have found that this allows viewers to project meaning onto the object in a way that encourages a feeling of surprise and profundity”. Orange Bomb is simply a shape - not a bomb, but the shape of a bomb. The work is given the timbre to become something both profound and banal.

By subverting the purpose of the bomb in to pure aesthetic sculpture, McCracken highlights a particular interest in materiality and process. The purpose built, aerodynamic projectile appears crinkly and inflated, a result of his hydro-expanding the material. The welded, fabricated stainless steel is inflated with water and highly pressurised, becoming almost comical in its toy-like appearance. Through highly saturated citrus colour, he transforms the emotional signature of the object, using the colour of school uniforms, socks and jumpers. One of McCracken’s greatest inspirations is his daughter, a budding cartoonist. He says that he is “constantly amazed by her process, which is so reduced, but efficient at conveying ideas and emotions... the opposite of what I do”.

Orange Bomb
Orange Bomb
Orange Bomb

More from this artist

Artist Bio

David McCracken is a sculptor based in Auckland. He began sculpting in his teens, followed by working in a variety of jobs including boatbuilding and construction where he gained skills with glass and carbon fibre, steel fabrication, welding and woodwork.

McCracken has also been involved in the performing arts including designing and making sets and props for theatre, dance and film production. McCracken saw the potential of steel fabrication for quickly producing large set pieces and at the same time began making sculpture from readily available and inexpensive scrap when he could afford little else.

He furthered his metal fabrication skills to include aluminium, stainless steel, titanium, and corten steel and began casting in bronze and stainless steel. In 2000 he had his first solo exhibition entitled Fabrications at the McPherson Gallery and exhibited an innovative floating installation in Lake Pupuke, Auckland at the Beecroft Sculpture exhibition, marking the beginning of a number of floating sculptures. In 2001 he was shortlisted for the Wallace Art Awards and showed H2O2 at McPherson Gallery as well as a number of private commissions. By 2003 he was sculpting full time, continually developing and adding to his vocabulary of systems and continuing to try new techniques such as hydroforming steel into complex compound forms with hydrostatic pressure, or driving over sheets of steel with a vehicle to create curves.

McCracken continues to experiment with water born sculpture and is developing systems for large scale land-art installations. McCracken’s work Diminish and Ascend, 2013 is a permanent fixture in Christchurch’s Botanic Gardens. In 2013 he was recipient of the Parsons & Brinckerhoff Award for Excellence in Engineering at Headland Sculpture on the Gulf. In 2017 he was selected for the exhibition Not then, not now, not ever in Berlin, along with artists from 31 countries including Anish Kapoor, Kiki Smith and Miroslaw Balka. He has exhibited widely at outdoor exhibitions including Headland Sculpture on the Gulf (Waiheke Island), Shapeshifter (Lower Hutt), Sculpture in the Gardens (Auckland) and Sculpture by the Sea (Sydney).

McCracken has commissioned sculptures in New Zealand and internationally.

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