Susan MacPhail

16 Itsy Bitsy

This mechanical sculpture turns the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" nursery rhyme into an unsettling experience of a giant steel spider and loud punk music, using the constant motor cycle of climbing and falling to explore the tension between childhood innocence and modern anxiety.

“"This mechanical sculpture reimagines the familiar nursery rhyme through disruption, scale, and sensory tension. A towering black spider, constructed from steel wool and sharpened claws, repeats its relentless climb up a water spout, only to trigger a cascade of water that mimics rain. When the spider falls, a motion activated light floods the scene like artificial sunlight, and the cycle begins again. Sound transforms the narrative further. The gentle rhyme is replaced by the chaotic, punk inflected voice of Anthony Vincent, destabilizing childhood nostalgia into something loud, amusing, and unpredictable.The work explores repetition, resilience, and the thin line between innocence and menace. By scaling up the spider and mechanizing its struggle, I invite viewers to confront discomfort and question how familiar stories shape emotional responses. What was once comforting becomes abrasive, turning a simple tale into a confrontation with persistence, anxiety, and the uncanny."”