Since the 20th century, and with the New Materialist turn, materials used within sculptural practice have been understood to have agency. Rocks holding together #2 extends an understanding of abfunctional material possibilities in an artwork through the synchronous engagement of Harcourt granite from the lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung and glass. Here, the process of the sandwiching the hot blown glass bubble between the granite stone determines the form and shape of the glass bubble. As an outcome the glass uncannily supports the weight of the top cut granite - a material understood to be fragile and weak calling into question what it is that holds us up.
NTRO Output Category
- Original Creative Work : Visual artwork
Place
Melbourne, AustraliaVenue
Sarah Scout Presents, The Spring 1883 Art Fair, The Windsor Hotel, MelbourneNTRO Publisher
Sarah Scout PresentsStart Date
2024-04-17End Date
2024-06-01Medium
Harcourt Granite, from the lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung and glassResearch Statement
Since the 20th century, and with the New Materialist turn, materials used within sculptural practice have been understood to have agency. This sculptural work questions how the notion of abfunction (a neologism that identifies the move away from function in the outcomes and production of art), can invert expected material agency within sculptural practice through the process of sandwiching hot blown glass between two vertical Harcourt granite cut stone.
Rocks holding together #2 extends an understanding of abfunctional material possibilities in an artwork through the synchronous engagement of Harcourt granite from the lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung and glass. Here, the process of the sandwiching the hot blown glass bubble between the granite stone determines the form and shape of the glass bubble. As an outcome the glass uncannily supports the weight of the top cut granite - a material understood to be fragile and weak calling into question what it is that holds us up.
This artwork, was exhibited as a part of the group exhibition of the well respected commercial gallery, Sarah Scout Presents installation at Spring 1883, in the Windsor Hotel, Melbourne, 2023. This series of artwork has been instrumental in the invitation to produce a solo exhibition at Heide Museum of Art, at the iconic McGlashan and Everist modernist house in 2026.Size or Duration of Work
30 cm x 80cm x 30cm Exhibition duration: 09/08/2023-12/08/2023Affiliation
Simone Slee, University of Melbourne
