Max Alper	Constructions & Assemblages Click on picture for a detailed view!
Unifying aspirations in Max Alper's work are: Non-representational forms in two or three dimensions. Strong composition and visual impact. Playful use of color, when used. Raising evocative responses from viewers. Although these are expressed in various media, the constructions and assemblages are discussed here.
Construction parts are largely shaped by the artist while assemblages incorporate many found objects interwoven with shaped pieces of wood. Alper's found objects differ from the worn rusted and organic items used by many assemblage-ists in that Alper's items are those designed to resist time and exposure. Some such are hub caps or light bulbs that could rest in a landfill for decades uncorroded, and are found before they are consigned to a dump, in a symbolic gesture against waste.	Hemisphere 006-Cut By A Curved Surface & Two Planes, 1991 Assemblage-wood/found objects, 14"Hx24"D Alper comments on technical evanescence by the inclusion of objects, now totally obsolete, that only "a moment ago" were indispensable. Examples are slide rules, vacuum tubes and tennis racquet presses. The geometric forms of Alper's assemblages, hemispheres, cones, etc., often with global references, are intersected by planes and/or curved surfaces. On a terrestrial scale, these are so huge as to suggest the immensity of natural forces. Wood, also mainly salvaged, is the principal material of Alper's constructions which include "stack towers", vari-shaped blocks piled to magical heights; straight, curved and/or spiral. Return to Top of Page
Jack's Beanstalk, 1992 Construction-wood squares, 74.7"hx11.2"x11.2"