The Self-Isolation Residency 22nd April 2020: Day 24

Exploring Sculpture No.1: 'Still', found objects, 2009, Antony Clarkson

Due to the popularity of the post about 'Tension', my first installation which I posted two days ago, I have decided that I would begin a similar series devoted to some of my sculpture also to be interspersed between the posts about my ongoing project. As with the installation series, as I am now calling it, I will begin with my first piece of 'professional' sculpture; 'Still'.

I  say professional sculpture as I had made several more naive attempts at sculpture previously, but Still, which began an ongoing series of pieces, marks a seed change in my approach to sculpture. Previously I tended to work in much more traditional materials, clay, plaster or wood, Still marks my first foray into working with found objects.  This new approach was prompted by my moving into a new studio space at this time, one which was littered with the debris left behind by its previous occupant. At this time I was already consciously  considering making some new work in a different field with the intention of expanding my practice and while I thought about and research this I began to work my way through  the object that I found in the space, with the initial idea of disposing of them. However one of the first things that I came across was the small blue cup which forms the centre piece of Still. It's rather battered and chipped but I found that it had great charm and decided that I would like to do something with it, although at this time I had no idea exactly what. One thing that it did do immediately for me was to make me look at the accumulated detritus with a different eye, were there other treasures to be found? Most people would say no is the answer to that question, but I guess it takes a particular type of mind and imagination to see past that initial prejudice, perhaps that one of the things that makes arts different? Two of the next items that I found where a bag of sand, the way you do, and some sheets of clear polythene, not very special in their own right but they were enough to get me thinking properly.  It may seem obtuse to you but the combination of clear plastic sheets, sand and a cup made me think of the principle of a 'solar still'. For those of you not familiar with the usage and mechanism of a solar still I will outline it briefly but for more details please follow the link here.
 
A solar still is a device used to collect and purify water water, it can be used as a survival device to collect water in drier areas, deserts, with very basic materials. The two main things that you would need to build a solar still are a transparent plastic sheet and a cup to collect the water; a hole is dug in the ground or sand the cup is placed in the centre of this hole. The plastic is then stretched across the hole and held down at the edges by stones while another stone is placed in the middle of the plastic directly about the cup, just heavy enough to make the plastic deform into a shallow conical shape. The principle is that the sun heats the ground and what moisture is in it evaporates until in hits the plastic where it condenses, this condensation runs down the conical shape of the plastic and drips into the cup. As you can tell this is a slow process!

But nonetheless an interesting process, I realised that as I went through the found materials that I had I could create something that was a form of model for this principle, not something that would actually collect water but something inspired by the idea. As I played with the materials I'd found the form that a natural esthetic as it evolved into the one in the image above. I was also please that the piece was constructed entirely form found materials which both coincided with the 'survival' aspect of the device and with it as a 'machine' having a zero carbon footprint and a recycling aspect to it.  Although it is now 11 years since I made Still I continue to find it appealing as a piece in its own right and also as a piece that start a new way of thinking for me. I now find myself being drawn back to this way of thinking by my present lockdown situation and wondering what the accumulated paraphernalia of my studio and home here have to offer in a similar way?