Rocks holding up #18 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 potential uplift of the top rock by the blown glass, in addition to the narrowness of the quartz stone establishes the unlikely gravitational act of holding and suspending the top rock by the glass.
NTRO Output Category
- Original Creative Work : Visual artwork
Place
Point NepeanVenue
Quarantine Art FairNTRO Publisher
Quarantine Art Fair, Sarah Scout PresentsStart Date
2025-01-08End Date
2025-01-11Medium
Quartz 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 whilst equally referencing the sculptural traditions of selecting and creating stone assemblies that evoke naturally occurring geological formations.
Rocks holding up #18 extends an understanding of abfunctional material possibilities in an artwork through the synchronous engagement of gifted quartz stone and glass. This work focuses on the potential uplift of the top rock by the blown glass, the narrowness of the gifted stone with its arrangement that formally evokes traditions of scholars rocks. With this intention, and the process of working in a choreographed fashion with the glass blowers, in conjunction with the granite stone determines the form and assembly of the glass bubble and stone. An outcome being the unlikely gravitational act of holding and suspending the top rock by the glass.
This artwork was invited to be exhibited at the 2025 Quarantine Art Fair at Quarantine Station. This work was subsequently acquired to a significant Melbourne private art collector.Size or Duration of Work
15 x 45 x 45cm, 22 kg. 8/01/2025-11/01/2025Affiliation
Simone Slee, University of Melbourne
