‘The elephant I have
always known’
By Andrew March with help from friend and colleague Fons van Grinsven, 2024
In the 1980’s I was a young art student studying in London. It is here that I first encountered contemporary sculpture. It was a time when British sculptors were re-asserting the object as a viable means of artistic expression. Tony Cragg, Richard Wentworth and Bill Woodrow were all front runners in the so called ‘new British sculpture’ movement. It was a reaction to what sculpture had become, especially the minimal and conceptual approach established in the 1970’s. It also offered an alternative to the heavyweight post-constructivist ‘assemblage’ approach, championed by sculptors like Antony Caro and Philip King. Their sculptural research focused mainly on the formal relationship between the object and the space it occupied. By comparison the new British sculpture was playful, or at times even whimsical, offering a fresh, new perspective.
Richard Wentworth ‘shower’ 1984
Evident in this new sculptural language was an esthetical and ideological fascination with the found object. It was treated as raw material that could be manipulated, altered, and changed to suit the needs of the sculpture and to challenge everyday perceptions. The ironic duality in Bill Woodrow’s “twin tub with guitar” sums up the spirit of the times perfectly. The donor object, an old twin tub washing machine, already seen as obsolete and somewhat comical within the British psyche is cut into and expertly folded to form an electric guitar. The contrast between the washing machine and the iconic guitar could not be greater. There is a melancholic paradox within the sculpture. The two incongruous objects have become united and inseparable, destined to exist side by side for the rest of their lives.
Bill Woodrow ‘twin tub with guitar’ 1981
The discovery of Constantin Brancusi’s ‘Cup’ sculpture from 1917 was another seminal moment in my development. Although a humble object it is nevertheless profound and significant. I believe he made 4 of them, none of which were hollowed out, claiming that the function was now contemplation and not utilitarian. This staggeringly simple adjustment to reality opens the door to abstraction and challenges perceptions of our everyday experience. Because of its form we still recognize the cup as a cup, but now it is free to be experienced as a poetical form. The cup is liberated from its former identity. It is set free. This magical transformation was made possible because of Brancusi’s incredible sensitivity for volume and the solid form. As well as his feeling for sculptural techniques such as casting, carving, and modelling. Always in search for the perfect form, the perfect shape, and the perfect polished surface.
Constantin Brancusi ‘cup’ in plaster c1917
Although my sculptures have all been made and not found, they do belong to the found object tradition. They are often close copies of the original object but by using encoignures materials a transformation takes place. This act of making is a tactile sculptural handling of the object. With the intended function being largely ignored the object is free to be treated as an abstract sculptural element. It is primarily a workshop activity employing traditional processes and ‘handmade’ techniques. It is about reduction, refinement, and perfection, searching for the ideal form and the essence of the object. It is the Platonic idea of archetypal forms and prototypes, reducing the object to a basic common experience, the blueprint.
An example of this is “Brooks” an early sculpture that imbodies the simple idea of a bicycle saddle. It is carved from a solid block of wood with a smooth varnished surface. It is attached to the wall at a hight and angle that you would expect see it if it were still on the bicycle. Through its handling and the sculptural transformation, it is no longer a single bicycle saddle, now it represents all bicycle saddles.
Brooks
In the more recent works these principles have been taken further and are no longer restricted to common place, everyday objects. A tree, a sailing ship, an elephant, all familiar, archetypal forms that trigger instant recognition.
In the sculpture ‘The elephant I have always known’ the perfectly smooth surface and unexpected green colour isolates the object. The elephant stands alone in its own world on a plateau of the same colour. The sculpture has gone through the same process of refinement and reduction. As a result, it is materialized and at the same time highly conceptualized. This means it overcomes having a specific history or ideology, instead it tells a universal story that resonates with our own experiences and expectations. It is the elephant I have always known.
The elephant I have always known