Dimensions: object: 355 x 1410 x 585 mm
Copyright: © The estate of Barry Flanagan, courtesy Plubronze Ltd | CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 DEED, Photo: Tate
Curator: Barry Flanagan created this travertine sculpture, known as untitled (carving no. 13/81), with dimensions that invite a grounded perspective. Editor: Its form, at first glance, seems so primordial, like a gigantic fossil or some ancient artifact. The texture gives it such a weight. Curator: The porous quality of the travertine links it to geological time scales, yet the sculpted form suggests a conscious shaping, perhaps alluding to the interplay between nature and culture. It also brings to mind the subconscious, in its fluid, suggestive shape. Editor: The subtle curves are fascinating; the overall composition exudes balance and invites you to walk around it, exploring its shape from different angles. The materiality is at odds with the organic form of the carving. Curator: It’s a constant dialogue, isn’t it? Between the material’s origins and Flanagan’s intention, that asks us to consider the long echoes of natural processes. Editor: Yes, and how we frame these processes as art. It makes us reflect on our own interactions with nature’s gifts.
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http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/flanagan-untitled-carving-no-1381-t03608
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This sculpture and 'Carving No. 2', also displayed here, are from a series of thirteen abstract marble carvings made in 1981 at Pietrasanta, the famous Italian centre for stone carving. For all these works Flanagan first made small hand-sized models in clay, rolling, squeezing, and twisting the material. These little shapes were afterwards reinterpreted on a larger scale in marble by skilled craftsmen working under the artist's direction. This collaboration extended to the choice of appropriate materials to carve. Here the finished work clearly shows a scaled-up version of the impression of the artist's fingers where he has squeezed the original small piece of clay. Gallery label, August 2004
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