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Artist/Maker
William Wainwright
(American, 1924 – 2012)
Date1994
MediumMetal disc surfaced with a pattern of diffraction grating
DimensionsDiameter: 8 1/2 in. (21.6 cm)
Credit LineTransferred from the Hamilton College Collection
Object number2025.9.18
Not on view
DescriptionFrom the portfolio forward:
"William Wainwright was born in Indianapolis in 1924; he studied engineering at Purdue University and architecture at Cornell, the Institute of Design, Chicago, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His art follows from this background by combining his interest in high-tech aluminum and diffraction grating and the lighter materials of slender reeds, bamboo, and gossamer metallic fabric. Most of his work is kinetic.
Wainwright's contribution to this folio is a disc surfaced with a pattern of diffraction grating that separates white light into its component rainbow colors. The configuration of color may seem to expand outward from the center point or whirlpool back into the core, depending on the direction of rotation. There is a small hole in the metal at the spinning point which may be pierced to mount the disk on a wall."
Collections
Additional Details
Signature
Verso, upper center (black marker): "Wainwright"
Inscribed
Verso, upper center (black marker): "'94 / Diminishing [S] / 18/50"
Joyce McDaniel
Date: 1994
Medium: Collage and print on dressmaker pattern paper
Object number: 2025.9.10
Charles E. Burchfield
Date: March 1916
Medium: Watercolor and graphite on paper
Object number: 2016.1.1
Charles E. Burchfield
Date: April 1, 1916
Medium: Watercolor and pencil on paper
Object number: 2016.1.2
Thomas Nast
Date: published May 16, 1874
Medium: Wood engraving on newsprint
Object number: 2019.13.239
George Catlin
Date: 1845
Medium: Color lithograph on paper
Object number: 1959.111
Kiki Smith
Date: 1995
Medium: Ink on handmade Japanese paper
Object number: 1998.3.5