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Armada

Armada
Armada
In Armada, Dawson presents over twenty new sculptures. Bolted and screwed to the wall, these objects bunch and float across the partitioned surface; clustering, collecting . Though each object has its own independent characterisitcs and internal logic, the accumulation of so many sculptures across a single wall evokes a commonality, a shared aim as suggested in the shows title.

Within the sculptures the welded and sawn steel structures evoke brutalist architecture of the 1950’s in particular Alison and Peter Smithson. Every part of each object bears the marks of reconfiguration, that they have endured an extended production process. A thick layer of oil paint is smeared across many of the surfaces and glazed with a film of glitter subverting the material narrative of the steel.
It is only on closer inspection that miniature model figures become visible and the realization that these are superstructures and are populated by little people. A Sun bather lounges on a length of twisted scaffolding pole. A civil engineer peers out from a section of girder and surveys an infinitely large landscape; these figures dramatically alter the viewers focus, the objects formal characteristics are disturbed by these inhabitants and their microcosmic canivalesque.

This hammers home a distinct sense that these objects are critical of their very own status. And if the work of the 1950’s, that these objects clearly allude, was based on the explosion of consumer capital then this work is grounded in the crater of that explosion
Dawson, Ian
3b598f16-b350-4fbc-89aa-ef92eba6abfa
Atashroo, Hazel
8c92d1e9-e6f2-42bb-92ba-09c00a97e3b4
Gilbert Peterson, Oliver
ca8e256f-3d6c-4b34-9038-712e0016e7b8
Dawson, Ian
3b598f16-b350-4fbc-89aa-ef92eba6abfa
Atashroo, Hazel
8c92d1e9-e6f2-42bb-92ba-09c00a97e3b4
Gilbert Peterson, Oliver
ca8e256f-3d6c-4b34-9038-712e0016e7b8

Dawson, Ian, Atashroo, Hazel and Gilbert Peterson, Oliver (2013) Armada.

Record type: Art Design Item

Abstract

In Armada, Dawson presents over twenty new sculptures. Bolted and screwed to the wall, these objects bunch and float across the partitioned surface; clustering, collecting . Though each object has its own independent characterisitcs and internal logic, the accumulation of so many sculptures across a single wall evokes a commonality, a shared aim as suggested in the shows title.

Within the sculptures the welded and sawn steel structures evoke brutalist architecture of the 1950’s in particular Alison and Peter Smithson. Every part of each object bears the marks of reconfiguration, that they have endured an extended production process. A thick layer of oil paint is smeared across many of the surfaces and glazed with a film of glitter subverting the material narrative of the steel.
It is only on closer inspection that miniature model figures become visible and the realization that these are superstructures and are populated by little people. A Sun bather lounges on a length of twisted scaffolding pole. A civil engineer peers out from a section of girder and surveys an infinitely large landscape; these figures dramatically alter the viewers focus, the objects formal characteristics are disturbed by these inhabitants and their microcosmic canivalesque.

This hammers home a distinct sense that these objects are critical of their very own status. And if the work of the 1950’s, that these objects clearly allude, was based on the explosion of consumer capital then this work is grounded in the crater of that explosion

Text
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More information

Published date: 2 March 2013
Organisations: Winchester School of Art

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 349476
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/349476
PURE UUID: 5f83e6d5-8029-4aa4-8f28-5bf32c8da653
ORCID for Ian Dawson: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-3695-8582

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 06 Mar 2013 09:50
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:05

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Contributors

Artist: Ian Dawson ORCID iD
Other: Hazel Atashroo
Other: Oliver Gilbert Peterson

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