GORMLISQUE GRAVIATIONS

ANTONY GORMLEY IS A BRITISH ARTIST KNOWN FOR HIS WORK IN SCULPTURE, INSTALLATION ART AND PUBLIC ARTWORKS. HE DESCRIBES HIS WORK AS “AN ATTEMPT TO MATERIALISE THE PLACE AT THE OTHER SIDE OF APPEARANCE WHERE WE ALL LIVE”. HIS WORK ATTEMPTS TO TREAT THE BODY NOT AS AN OBJECT, BUT AS A PLACE. HIS WORKS ENCLOSE THE SPACE OF A PARTICULAR BODY TO IDENTIFY A CONDITION COMMON TO ALL HUMAN BEINGS. HIS TECHNIQUE OF ART IS PARTICULARLY ‘BODY CASE’ AND MOST OF HIS WORK IS MADE OUT OF CAST IRON. SIMILAR TO HIS LAMGUAGE, METAL MEMBERS HAVE BEEN THE PRIMARY SYSTEM OF STRUCTURE USED IN THIS DESIGN, ALONG WITH OTHER FORM EXPLORATIONS THROUGH PLY MEMBERS AND TRANSLUSCENT ACRYLIC AND GLASS FINISHES. THE MATERIALISED GRID SYSTEM FOR THE DESIGN ALSO GIVES A SENSE OR DISORIENTATION AS THE LEVELS SEEM DISSOLVING WITH ONE ANOTHER, SIMILAR TO GORMLEY’S MATRIX II. HE QUOTES, “AS YOU ARE DRAWN BY THESE PUSH-PULL PERSPECTIVES AND AS YOU WALK AROUND THE PIECE, THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF RECONCILING FOREGROUND, MID-GROUND AND BACKGROUND AND THE ABSENCE OF ANY FIGURE WITHIN THE GROUND UNDER.