World beach project

plus ici

*

Terra'
Sue Lawty
2004
Linen, hemp, silk

*

"... Pour voir un monde dans un grain de sable ..." William Blake

Je voulais prendre quelque chose d'infime et insignifiant; de tout petits cailloux sous les pieds inaperçus sur une plage,sortis de leur contexte ... et par la répétition et l'ampleur des travaux, sous réserve le spectateur devient petit en leur présence.

Chaque minuscule pierre insignifiante témoigne de l'immensité des temps géologiques. Temps si immenses qu'il nous rend, l'humanité, comme la paille ; nous un spot insignifiant dans l'histoire de la terre.

La roche d'origine aurait été formée et ensuite ventilée et érodée sur des millions d'années. Chaque marque graveleux résultante de la pierre a été gronde et roulée, tournée et retournée, pilonnée sans relâche et poussée à l'intérieur et sur les marées deux fois par jour, tous les jours pendant des années ... jusqu'à maintenant ... s'arrêta sur le point de devenir le sable.

(traduction approximative google)

Sue Lawty

Calculus

“…To see a World in a Grain of Sand…” William Blake

I wanted to take something tiny & insignificant; very small stones unnoticed underfoot on a beach, out of context… and through repetition and scale of work, subject the viewer to be made small in their presence.

Each tiny insignificant speck of stone bears witness to the vastness of geological time. Time so immense it renders us, humankind, as the real speck; ourselves an insignificant blip in the earth’s history.

The original rock would have been formed and then subsequently broken down and eroded over millions of years. Each resultant gravelly mark of stone has been rumbled and rolled, tossed and turned, pounded and shoved relentlessly in and out on tides twice a day, every day for years… until now… halted on the verge of becoming sand.

Calculus:

- the study of change in the same way that geometry is the study of shape and algebra is the study of equations

- a branch of mathematics originally based on the summation of infinitesimal differences.

- a particular method / system / logic of calculation or reasoning

- Latin for small stone

* * * * * *

Since working on the Order installation at the V&A a few years ago, I have been harbouring ideas to make more large stone drawings and have finally had the opportunity to do it.

Calculus is a 2 x 3 m work using tiny stones (some not much bigger than sand). I have been developing and making the piece over the last five months for the exhibition Taking Time: Craft and the Slow Revolution.

The exhibition, curated by artist Helen Carnac brings together nineteen international artists, makers and designers whose creative practice explores and connects to the philosophies of the slow movement. Helen is running a blog and website: Making a Slow Revolution