Dependent Rational Animals
30 July 2015
Ceramics
10 September 2015The ‘dwellings’ series are all room-sized nonagon (nine-sided) domes. I choose nine partly because it leads to satisfying numbers in its geometry. The nine isosceles triangles that make up a nonagon have an apex of 40° and the other two angles are 70°. I like the order and certainty of geometry.
The other reason I choose nine is that it symbolises the Enneagram, and I was quite intrigued with Gurgieff at the time.
In the woods
This work was shown as part of the Dependent Rational Animals project with Roxy Walsh. After the show at Towner Gallery in Eastbourne, it was moved to its final location in Westfield near Hastings in England.
Sleeping Igloo (version 2)
This was the second iteration of the igloo bedroom.
The outside of the structure was covered with strips of technical felt. Underneath that was an intricate latten structure blanketed with insulation. This gave it a very quiet and peaceful feeling inside.
Sleeping Igloo (version 1)
Living in the studio was a liberation. But I needed a human-sized quiet, dark space to go to sleep and wake up in, so I made this nine-sided dome. I referred to it as an ‘igloo’ while the I was building it and the term stuck, even though it nothing to do with an igloo other than being a dome-shaped living space. The basic form was built using light timber battens which I covered with insulation, plastic for pond lining and found scaffolding net.
In lieu of a visit, my friend, painter Roxy Walsh, sent me paintings to go inside the structure and with this act, our collaboration ‘Dependent Rational Animals‘ began.
The house that grew into itself
This work was made at https://broomhill-estate.com/ in Devon, England. They run an annual sculpture prize and this was on the shortlist.
Artist Statement
Sculpture outdoors presents me with something of a challenge: I find myself wondering whether the site would be better left empty.
When nature is doing its job of occupying a space, it seems that it could easily make a fool of one who assumed they can better it. Yet we have an impetus to occupy and control space, and we need to construct shelters for ourselves.
Shortly after arriving at Broomhill the word ‘fecund’ came into my mind and lodged itself there for the duration of the installation. As the issues of hubris and fecundity jostled in my mind with the desire to create a shelter in the woods, my solution was t half-occupy the space and allow nature to join the party. So I left the igloo frame open and vulnerable to its environment.
The final piece suggests a thwarted or abandoned project to make the camp in the woods. It occupies the space subtly so that at some angles it becomes almost invisible.
