Projects - Sculpture Placement Group

Floating Head

Commissioning Research Pt.1

Sculpture Placement Group is an action research organisation. Our work impacts the visual arts. An example of this is Floating Head, a 26-tonne floating artwork that was originally commissioned for Glasgow Garden Festival in 1988. It was conceived by Richard Groom who made it alongside shipbuilders at the Govan Docks on the banks of the Clyde. It’s made of a steel mesh and covered with a cement render. The sculpture bonds Glasgow’s industrial history and materials with the process of art-making.

Circular Arts Network

CAN is a recycling and reuse tool that helps the arts combat the climate emergency. It gives you access to the materials you need for your creative projects by providing a place where materials and resources can be exchanged. CAN stands for Circular Arts Network, it’s an online platform that supports a circular economy within the arts.

The National Theatre of Scotland, National Galleries Scotland, Glasgow School of Art and Edinburgh University are among 700+ users who have already benefited from CAN.

STEP

Commissioning Research Pt.2

The epistemology of the art-world is often based on a constant linear cycle of producing more and more new things. The second phase of our commissioning research was aimed at tackling this and was situated in the present. We collaborated with Jacqueline Donachie and an exhibition that was produced for Glasgow International.

Material Change

Podcast Series

Material Change is a series of conversations and interviews about the relationship between the visual arts and ecology. In these discussions, we talk to artists, designers, organisations and material researchers working in the context of the ecological emergency.

Sculpture is inseparable from its materiality, its meaning is rooted in the materials and the processes involved in making it what it is. Our focus on this podcast is to examine the role materials have in the art making process, exploring the implications for the wider ecology and our relationship with the object.

Our Loan project takes contemporary art out of the gallery and into new contexts and environments.

We work with visual artists to extend the life-cycle of artworks that are currently in long-term storage. It gives you an opportunity and access to lease original contemporary sculptures at an affordable price.