Indiana began making freestanding constructions in 1959, using the wooden beams he salvaged from buildings on Coenties Slip that were being demolished. He continued this practice in the early 1960s, before turning his focus to painting. After moving to Vinalhaven Indiana returned to constructions, first using the remaining beams from Coenties Slip that he had stored for twenty years, and then turning to locally found materials. These materials included wood salvaged from old piers and from the island’s old granite quarry, and agricultural implements, such as the rotary tiller wheels found on Icarus. Alongside Thoth (1985), Mars (1990), Eros (1997), Cyclops (1999), RA (2000), and Zeus/Suez (2000), Icarus is one of Indiana’s Vinalhaven constructions with a mythological name.
