"In 2008, every surface of an abandoned London council flat was lined with a thick
layer of glistening, knife-sharp copper-
sulphate crystals – creating an angular cave that was at once alluring, sensuous and needlingly dangerous. This was Seizure, by Roger Hiorns – the British artist (or, you might think, alchemist) who once caused flames to rise from the drains of the Tate" - Charlotte Higgins, Chief arts writer, The Guardian, Feb 16. - http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/
2013/jun/13/seizure-copper-sulphate-crystals-yorkshire
Playing on the idea of growth in my own work, I was very intrigued by Hiorns work. Again it held a scientific calling, using copper-sulphate to grow large crystals encapsulating the entire of the London flat feature in his work pictured above, Seizure, 2008. The work is now on show at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Previously Hiorns has used the same technique but on a much smaller scale covering engines and other object with the same copper-sulphate solution. Perhaps I could explore the potentials of chemical growth and experiment with how the might fit into my work.
"Copper sulphate crystals are a recurring motif in Hiorns’s sculpture. Fascinated by the unpredictable and uncontrollable growth patterns of this inorganic substance, Hiorns chooses to cede the task of determining the eventual appearance of the work. Critic JJ Charlesworth has written about the self-supporting nature of the process:
If crystals grow on the body of a BMW engine ... they no longer have anything to do with the human intervention that initially set them in motion. Hiorns makes objects that suggest a sort of independence, a separation from the world of those who see them, as if they have a purpose, or at least a story behind their existence, that exists despite the context in which they are encountered. (Milton Keynes Gallery 2006, p.6.)" - http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/hiorns-untitled-t12456
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