Arc de Triomphe for Personal Use (Grey) 2007

Jimmie Durham made this sculpture, Arc de Triomphe for Personal Use (Grey), out of metal. The process of construction is really on display here, with bolts, joins and visible fixings left in full view. It’s sort of like seeing the workings of a machine laid bare. It’s interesting how Durham takes this monument, so linked to grand ideas of power and victory, and scales it down to a version that’s, well, personal. There’s a kind of playful ambiguity at work. Look at the small wheels on the base - the work suddenly seems light and easy to move, ready to be wheeled around. It makes me think a little of the work of Franz West, who took a similarly playful, even irreverent, approach to sculpture. With both artists, there's no one fixed meaning to be found, but rather a space for ongoing reflection.