Since the 20th century, and with the New Materialist turn, materials used within sculptural practice have been understood to have agency. Rocks holding up #13, 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. This work focusses on the potential uplift of the top rock by the blown glass, considering the natural formation of precarious rocks found within the landscape such as at Black Hill, from the lands of the Taungurung, closely neighbouring the Dja Dja Wurrung lands. With this intention and the process of working in a choreographed fashion with the glass blowing process, the form and assembly of the glass bubble and stone is determined –creating the unlikely gravitational act of holding and suspending the precarious rock on top of the stone base.
History
Add to Elements
Yes
NTRO Output Type
Original Creative Work
NTRO Output Category
Original Creative Work : Visual artwork
Place
Melbourne, Australia
Venue
Sarah Scout Presents
NTRO Publisher
Sarah Scout Presents
Start Date
2024-04-17
End Date
2024-06-01
Medium
Bluestone (from the lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung) and glass
Research 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 whilst equally referencing the sculptural traditions of selecting and creating stone assemblies that evoke naturally occurring geological formations.
Rocks holding up #13 extends an understanding of abfunctional material possibilities in an artwork through the synchronous engagement of Bluestone, (from the lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung) and glass. This work focusses on the potential uplift of the top rock by the blown glass, considering the natural formation of precarious rocks found within the landscape such as at Black Hill, from the lands of the Taungurung, closely neighbouring the Dja Dja Wurrung lands. 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 bluestone the form and assembly of the glass bubble and stone is determined. An outcome being the blown glass’s unlikely gravitational act of holding and suspending the precarious rock on top of the stone base.
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 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/