Rocks holding up #15

Since the 20th century, and with the New Materialist turn, materials used within sculptural practice have been understood to have agency. Rocks holding up #15 extends an understanding of abfunctional material possibilities in an artwork through the synchronous engagement of Red Scoria, (from the lands of the Wurundjeri) and glass. This work focusses on the potential uplift of the top rock by the blown glass and the air it contains. The form and assembly of the glass bubble and stone is determined with this intention in mind and in conjunction with the process of working in sync with the glass blowers while casting the hot blown glass, and in dialogue with the red scoria rock’s form. In Rocks holding up #15, it is the air articulated within the glass bubble that provides the acrobatic action of holding and suspending the precarious rock on top of the stone base. The form of the assemblage is symmetrical with the cast glass rippling and by way of reflecting light, reveals the nature of the scoria’s surface.