Cold Dark Matter: An Exploded View 1991

Cornelia Parker created this suspended sculpture, made of charred remains from an exploded shed, for an unknown date. It’s dark matter, alright. It is almost a caricature of drawing, but the piece is not a drawing, it’s a sculpture! It has shape, depth, a surface, and an inside. It's all about mark-making. Think of the shed as the charcoal stick here, fragmented by explosion, then rearranged like brushstrokes. The central light bulb casts shadows that dance on the gallery walls, turning them into a kind of giant, ethereal canvas. You can see all of the textures and the splinters, a record of a past event but now suspended in time and space, a chaotic jumble, yet somehow harmonious. It’s like a freeze-frame from a movie, capturing a moment of destruction and rebirth simultaneously. It makes me think of Tara Donovan and her ability to make magic from everyday items. It's all part of art’s ongoing conversation, isn't it?