As a primary form, cable is found in the natural world and in the
arts; as such it belongs to a universal family of shapes across world
cultures…These sculptural forms run through the whole of human
experience.
Long before humans, plants made cable, and by example taught us how
to do so. Throughout history, cable is linked with communication and
connection. Archeological evidence from diverse areas indicates cable
was originally developed as a technology for giving strength to
materials by twisting natural fibers together…Through nature,
technology, and art, cable connects the full range of human
experience.
In unlocking a connection with the creativity of the past, the cable
motif allowed the Yurmans to inhabit a world derived from an ancestral
family of design.
David Yurman, well before he formalized a career as a sculptor and
jeweler, prophetically encountered the meaning of cable in nature. He
recounts a story about his youth: “Occasionally, I made the rebellious
decision to play hooky and visit a wooded area with beautiful trees
encircled with enormous hanging vines, so strong you could swing on
them. It was a visceral connection with a natural form.”
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About the author:
P A U L G R E E N H A L G H is the director of
the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts at the University of East Anglia,
in Norwich, U.K., and the former director and president of the
Corcoran Gallery of Art and Corcoran College of Art and Design in
Washington, D.C.