Trickster

Sculpture in bronze, by Bruce Arnott

bronze 1.4m high, granite base 0.84m high. Department of Psychology, UCT.

Original notes by Bruce Arnott

The ‘Cyclist’ is not emblematic - it is part of a series of polemical/satirical sculptures based on the Punch character or .. Trickster archetype.

The Punch/Trickster concept embodies notions of anti-establishmentarianism, buffoonery and shamanism that [reflect]… attributes of the creative individual functioning in an authoritarian ethos [the late 80s] – bucking the system, inverting [values]…

Assuming a Napoleonic persona and balancing precariously on a mono-cycle, Punch/Trickster pedals blindly into an unknown future, fending off unseen adversaries with an ineffectual weapon. The sculpture… is a concretisation of a state of mind or an existential predicament. It is concerned with delusions of grandeur and vulnerability – paradox and pathos.

The Trickster as buffoon acts out a quixotic farce in ironic fashion.