Latch Pillar

This work was made after exploring the similarities between artistic processes and those of industrial engineering. Each involves a period of research and development followed by the realization of a final object. Each is creative and demanding. The outcome, however, is extremely different in that the result of industrial engineering becomes something functional in an everyday sense whereas the artwork, generally speaking, does not.
I was interested in making work that seemed to cross the boundary between art and utility. In order to do this I dispensed with some ‘conventional’ painting materials such as canvas and stretchers but kept others, such as paint. The purple paint used on this piece is the same industrial colour used on industrial machines (e.g. slag pot carriers), which I applied using a spray gun as opposed to a brush. Although the work hangs on the wall, as a traditional painting would, it does so as a result of heavy metal chains. The overall effect is intended to refer to painting on the one hand, and everyday functionality on the other.