Projects - Various
'Pataphysical Emulator No.3'.
2008
Oxford.
Zinc Plated Steel, GRP and Aluminium.
4.5 mtrs x 2 mtrs x 4 mtrs.
Evolving from studio work, this work sought to look at form following function. Placed above the River Thames, the 'ears' collect ultra-low frequency, inaudible sound known as infrasound, a natural phenomena, amplifying it within tuned pipes to issue louder from the top. We can't hear it though..... it's infrasound.
Three Works about the Sea
2006
As an ex-Merchant Seaman, these are three works close to my heart.
BSP 1
Timber.
5 mtrs x 1.2 mtrs x 1.2 mtrs
This is the first of a series that relates to the sea. The ubiquitous cargo pallets and oars signifying what I see as the skeleton of lost British maritime traditions, a strange situation for an island nation.
Liferaft
Recycled pallet timber, polypropolene twine
1.5 mtr x 1.5 mtr x 1.2 mtr
This work was based on a true story, an old friend told me. He was captain of a ship standing-by another ship in distress in an Atlantic storm. The other ship was taking in water and the crew were desparately trying to prevent this. At two in the morning the other ship's navigation lights arced over and disappeared. The ship had turned over and sank in seconds. Sixteen seamen drowned. My friend and other ships searched for survivors for several hours and found none, only a couple of floating pallets. Here is a pallet liferaft. The sea is a harsh master.
The Raft of the Medusa with Plastic Chair
Recycled pallets, plastic and steel.
4 mtrs x 1 mtr x 3.5 mtrs.
This again refers to the perils of seafaring, perhaps brought up to date with the appalling number of drowned migrants in the Mediterranean in recent years. Pallet wood forms the basis of the work and the chair with it's four limbs, reflect a human presence. The work was inspired by Theodore Gericault in his celebrated painting 'Raft of the Medusa' that related to a infamous maritime disaster.
'Staring from the Sedentary Position'
2009
Recycled CCTV housing and integral video projector and screen with a two minute video loop.
Officers Club Gallery, Bath Spa.
We live in a society where we are regularly being observed by faceless authority. Here, the disconcerting image of the barely animated face staring at you, neutralizes the position of the watcher and the watched. 'Speaking from the Sedentary Position' is an archaic term used in the British Parliament.
'Strut'
2010
Zinc plated steel.
3 mtrs x 0.6 mtrs x 1.6 mtrs
Spike Island, Bristol
I'm intrigued by the idea of an art-piece disguised as a an architectural element. Engineered modules can have an interesting aesthetic. For centuries artists have made 'copies' of the natural world. This is a copy of a man-made world?
Untitled
2007
Left. 1.2 x 0.8 x 0.6 mtrs
Right 1.3 x 0.8 x 1.0 mtr
Wood
This work was a look at space frame structures. There's no earth shattering meaning but the appreciation of the prosaic.
Untitled
2007
0.9 mtr x 1.2 mtr x 0.18 mtr
Zinc Tube
Variation on a theme of an industrial prosaic.