Public Art Award

Transcription

1 Public Art Award 2009

2 Winner Robert Worley ARBS Finalit William Clifford (Burary) Chritine Lobb Michael Shaw Matthew Simmond ARBS Jury Prof. Brian Falconbridge PPRBS (Chair) Mark Davy, FutureCity Sean Henry FRBS George Iacobecu, Canary Wharf Group plc Iabel Vaeur, Public Realm Conultant exemplifie one of the Royal Britih Society of Sculptor prime objective to upport the development of culptor profeional and creative practice and to help them realie their calling. It would not have been poible without the upport of Canary Wharf Group plc and I offer my incere gratitude to them on behalf of the Society and culptor. I alo wih to record my heartfelt thank to the jury. It i their paion for excellence and innovation in public art and their peronal generoity which helped to make thi inaugural award o pecial. Johanne Von Stumm RBS Preident The RBS FIRST@108 Public Art Award bring important opportunitie and upport for emerging artit, who may one day become the leading artit of tomorrow, their viion haping our environment. Canary Wharf Group i proud to be the Award main ponor. We have long undertood the value of excellence and innovation, and ince our inception we have held a trong belief in the role that artit and deigner can play in creating a humane and pleaurable built environment. Thi commitment i demontrated by the many work of art located on the Canary Wharf etate. It i with great peronal pleaure that I join the RBS in celebrating the endeavour of the inaugural Award winner, Robert Worley, whoe culpture Avatar we look forward to welcoming to Canary Wharf in George Iacobecu CBE CEO, Canary Wharf Group plc

3 Award Public Art i a vibrant feature of contemporary art which imultaneouly provide wonderful opportunitie and preent eriou challenge to the culptor. Given the take, many commiioner require the aurance of proven delivery and it i hard to break into the field. FIRST@108 provide that opportunity. Launched in 2008 by the Royal Britih Society of Sculptor, the award eek to promote excellence and innovation in public art. It i open to culptor of any age and nationality, working in any tyle or media, who have not previouly received a public art commiion of 15,000 or more. Replicating a common public art commiioning procedure, the Award aim to both challenge and upport the winning culptor through a two tage election proce and the development and production of the work to it unveiling and exhibition. Led by the then Preident of the Society, Profeor Brian Falconbridge, the jury included George Iacobecu, CEO Canary Wharf Group plc the principle ponor, Mark Davy, Futurecity Conultant, Sean Henry FRBS and Iabel Vaeur, Public Realm Curator. The Society i grateful to all of them for their willingne to hare their expertie and time o untintingly and for helping to make thi new award o valuable for all thoe who participated. Short lit Over ixty applicant reponded to the public invitation to expre an interet and ubmitted information about themelve and their practice together with five image of their work to date. After much deliberation, five culptor with radically different approache were hort lited. They were William Clifford (Burary), Chritine Lobb, Michael Shaw, Matthew Simmond ARBS and Robert Worley ARBS. In line with the Society commitment to a deign tage fee for commiion, each artit wa paid 500 to develop their propoal and produce a maquette for the hort lit exhibition in January Viitor were invited to comment on the propoed work and offered intereting perpective on the five culptor repone to the theme of interaction. On the lat day of the exhibition, the five culptor were invited to preent to and dicu their propoal with the jury. Viitor comment, both poitive and negative about each propoal, were ummaried and made available to the jury. Each culptor wa judged to have made creative and thoughtful propoal and it wa a tough deciion. William Clifford Divided (detail) Michael Shaw Icehoue Chritine Lobb Plinth Matthew Simmond Rotunda Robert Worley Big Red One

4 2009 Winner Robert Worley ARBS At the pecial event that evening, Profeor Brian Falconbridge commended all five culptor work to guet before inviting George Iacobecu to announce the winner. He warmly congratulated Robert Worley on hi innovative and powerful propoal, which had deeply impreed the jury, and announced that he wa the 2009 winner with Avatar. George Iacobecu then delighted everyone preent by making a urprie announcement that together Canary Wharf Group plc and FutureCity had decided to make additional award of 1,500 to each of the other finalit a it had been a very cloe and difficult deciion. A wonderful evening concluded with the new that Canary Wharf Group plc would continue to upport the award in Imagery of montroity i often prevalent in Worley work. Avatar, a bird-like anthropomorph i ymbolic of the abtract concept our early ancetor truggled with when they painted and carved their human/animal/god creature. Thee early Neolithic and Cycladic creation repreent a quet for identity, at a time when the boundarie between animal, human and god were le defined. The Avatar i of coure alo prevalent in today digital culture, fulfilling a deire to aume alternate form and inhabit other world. Since winning the award Worley ha further explored the interaction between the human and divine in the culpture in the accompanying exhibition The Legend of Saint Eutace. Inpired by a novel itelf reponding to religiou work in Canterbury cathedral, Worley explain I wanted to evoke the atmophere of Hoban novel and fill the room like a mall foret with my culpture. I alo knew that in order to recreate the toxic glow of old idol I had to mix gold with other emi-preciou material, pewter and deer horn. The reulting work have the haunting preence of idol from another age. Similarly Avatar, now realied full cale, i more ambiguou in it identification a a triding cloaked figure or predatory bird and i more confrontational in it form. Robert Worley Avatar (maquette) Avatar (detail) Idol ii

5 Avatar Winning the Award gave me a fantatic opportunity to develop my work on a new larger cale and puh the boundarie of my practice. Avatar took many month to model in wax before being cat in aluminium. I like thi proce a I am naturally drawn to the potent alchemy of old metal cat culpture, modeled in wax and cat into the earth with molten metal. I ve had a lot of ueful advice and upport from Diane MacLean through the mentoring cheme about the general idea behind the artwork and the look and feel of the accompanying exhibition. I m lucky to hare my ACME tudio block with a few member of the RBS and their advice and technical upport on a day to day bai ha alo been invaluable. I d like to thank Canary Wharf Group plc for their continuing upport of thi programme and all the taff at the RBS and elector who have pulled together to make thi a really great opportunity to promote contemporary culpture. Robert Worley ARBS Further information Robert Worley Avatar

6 2009 Finalit William Clifford (Burary) Interacting with architectural detail and the cultural and hitorical meaning of a pace, William Clifford culpture have an inherent relationhip with their immediate environment. Statement I m intereted in the pace between, the point of interection. Where architecture meet artwork and artwork meet functionality. The work I make eek to addre the way we map and claify the world around u in order to undertand it, and in doing o offer the viewer an altered perpective on the pace they inhabit. For the FIRST@108 Award, Clifford propoed a mirror urfaced geometrical form reflecting hifting multiple viewpoint a the viewer approache and move around the culpture. Further information William Clifford Caueway Cube

7 Chritine Lobb The paradoxical idea of fragility and protection are examined in Chritine Lobb work a he quetion the protective function of object, uch a egghell, bubble wrap and net, which are themelve inherently fragile. Statement A net may provide afety from falling, a barrier between u and danger or, converely, we may become entangled in it web-like tructure, caught and imprioned. Net alo decribe movement and pace, wrapping themelve around hape or acting a a keleton to create new form. Net preent preliminary culptural ketche in the environment and allow the viewer to conider how their form could be manipulated. Lobb propoal for the Award conited of a wire net contructed of light reflective thread draped over a tall tubular frame. The material repond to light ource uch a car headlight creating momentary illumination and mobile form. Further information Matthew Simmond ARBS Making a play of architectural pace on a mall cale, Matthew Simmond culpture explore the tenion between unworked tone and converely geometric architectural tructure. Statement Inpired by a life-long facination with tone building, my work take tone architecture, and particularly acred architecture, a a central theme. The culpture are part of a earch to undertand what acred building are about, what give ignificance to a pace. Drawing on the formal language and philoophy of architecture the work explore theme of poitive and negative form, the ignificance of light and darkne and the relationhip between nature and human endeavour. Simmond propoal for FIRST@108 compried a fragmented claical amphitheatre carved in marble. The cale of the work, which would be jut two metre acro, play on the implicit attraction of miniature world. Further information Chritine Lobb Untitled Sample Net Photo by Chritine Lobb Matthew Simmond The Paage Odeion

8 Michael Shaw Michael Shaw work with tranparent and kinetic form that challenge perception of the culptural object a weight, ma and opacity. Statement My practice eem increaingly driven by the accommodation of perceived paradoxe including: the ingular form with both unity and variation; the inviible object; and explicit perceptual ambiguitie. Light and the ability of tranlucent and tranparent form to capture it have become crucial: with edge and membrane equally ignificant for the definition of geometry and the creation of illuion and ambiguity. For the FIRST@108 Award Shaw propoed a chameleonic keletal tructure illuminated from within, changing colour and intenity throughout the day. Interacting with the local environment the culpture highly polihed urface would reflect it urrounding while alo animating them with hifting light pattern. Exhibition Avatar Sculpture Forecourt 24 September January 2010 The Legend of Saint Eutace Salon Gallery 24 September 2 October Old Brompton Road London SW7 3RA T +44 (0) E info@rb.org.uk Regitered charity no Further information For further information about the FIRST@108 Public Art Award viit or contact Lia Howard, RBS Education Manager, on , education@rb.org.uk Michael Shaw Inflatable 10 Untitled 2009