Rocks holding up #12, continues to question how the expectations and agency of materials can be revealed and inverted in sculptural practice through the framework of abfunction - a neologism that identifies a move away from function in the outcomes and production of art. In this artwork, the focus is on the potential uplift of the 25kg quartz top rock by the blown glass, in relation to the blocky found form of the quartz stone. With this intention and the process of working in a choreographed fashion with the glass blowing process, in conjunction with the quartz stone, the form and assembly of the glass bubble and stone is determined –creating the unlikely gravitational act of lifting of the top rock and the reveal of the quartz contours by the glass.
NTRO Output Category
- Original Creative Work : Visual artwork
Place
Collingwood, AustraliaVenue
Sarah Scout PresentsNTRO Publisher
Sarah Scout PresentsStart Date
2024-04-17End Date
2024-06-01Medium
Pyrenees quartz (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.
Rocks holding up #12 extends an understanding of abfunctional material possibilities in an artwork through the synchronous engagement of Pyrenees quartz, (from the lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung) and glass. This work focusses on the potential uplift of the 25kg quartz top rock by the blown glass, in relation to the blocky found form of the quartz stone. With this intention and the process of working in a choreographed fashion with the glass blowers casting the hot blown glass in conjunction with the quartz stone determines the form and assembly of the glass bubble and stone. An outcome being the unlikely gravitational act of lifting of the top rock and the reveal of the quartz contours by the glass.
This artwork was exhibited in the solo exhibition “Rocks holding up”, 2024 as the inaugural exhibition of the new space of the highly regarded commercial gallery, Sarah Scout Presents. The exhibition received a very favourable review by the well-respected writer and academic Scott Robinson in the April edition of ArtsHub, one of the leading national arts bodies. The art work was subsequently acquired to a Melbourne private art collector.
Robinson Scott, “Rocks holding Up Sarah Scout Presents Exhibition Review”, Arts Hub. 29 April 2024, Accessed 16 January 2025.
https://www.artshub.com.au/news/reviews/exhibition-review-simone-slee-rocks-holding-up-sarah-scout-presents-2719765/Size or Duration of Work
60 x 52 x 32 cm, 57kgAffiliation
Simone Slee, University of Melbourne
