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A sculpture inspired by a notorious Pimlico prison has won an award for emerging artists.
The piece, by Chelsea College of Art and Design student Gloria Zein, will be exhibited in the grounds of the college from today – the area where Millbank Penitentiary stood between 1816 and 1890.
Entitled This Is What Happened, her 3.1-metre high tent-like sculpture is a joint winner of this year’s £10,000 Cass Prize.
Half brightly coloured and half dark, it reflects the history and changes of the area and cities in general.
Up until 1868, everyone sentenced to transportation to Australia was processed through Millbank, and the theme of passage and movement is also replicated in the two 3.5 meter I-beams on which the sculpture sits.
Ms Zein said: “There is a sense of absurdity that an arts school was installed on the site of a former prison – as the latter can enhance criminal careers and the art college can foster artistic careers.”
Originally a student of architecture, her interest in prisons began when she was set a project to design an ideal prison.
Unable to see a solution to this challenge, she eventually handed in a film explaining why she was unable to submit an architectural plan, something she describes as her “first artistic act”.
The second joint winner of the prize, PhD student Aaron Peake, will also see his work exhibited in the grounds of Chelsea College of Art and Design.
Some Cuts Resonate, which features a sliced bronze bell hung alongside a soft mallet, was inspired by cuts to arts funding
It will hang in one of the Parade Ground’s archways, which will act as a loudspeaker, and the sound produced will resonate for well over a minute – perhaps signalling opposition to funding cuts, though Mr Peake does not want to prescribe viewers’ response to the installation.
The bell was cast in bronze at the world famous Whitechapel Bell Foundry, using the same techniques used for casting church bells and Big Ben.
Mr Peake said: “It’s very important to me to create works that are interactive, especially since listening is as relevant as looking when it comes to understanding.
“This gets right away from the ‘do not touch’ signs you see in so many galleries; this piece isn’t complete until people do touch, play and experiment with it.”
The Cass Prize was established in 2010 by the Cass Sculpture Foundation, Cass Art and University of the Arts London, of which Chelsea is a constituent college.
* Both works will be exhibited in the college’s Rootstein Hopkins Parade Ground opposite Tate Britain from 5 October before going on display as works for sale at the Cass Sculpture Foundation at Goodwood in mid-November.
BELOW IS FLAT UP THERE
Private View:
Thursday 29 September 2011
6–9 pm
Exhibition:
30 September – 30 October 2011
Tuesday–Sunday 12–7 pm
Venue:
PALAGKAS.temporary @ the old Pimlico library
Rampayne Street, London SW1V 2PU
(opposite Pimlico Tube)
