Alternative Compression
Dominic Hopkinson
Alternative Compression
Dominic Hopkinson
Reference
SAS0127_006
Year
2006
Dimensions (cm)
Height: 50
Length: 30
Depth: 30
Length: 30
Depth: 30
Materials
Kilkenny limestone
Suitable Locations for the Work
- Indoors
- Outdoors
- Floor-based
- Freestanding
- On a plinth
Background, history, commissioner of the work
Hand carved, as part of a series of works investigating how biological cells fit or pack together to create structure, utilising a system called “closest packing theory”. Based on research into the Human Genome Project, I received funding to work with an interdisciplinary research group at University of Exeter, culminating in a solo exhibition in 2006 at the Northcote Gallery on campus. Shown in two other solo exhibitions in York and Bradford.
Thematic/contextual information
I was looking at how organic cells fill space. How a soft, flexible membrane full of liquid acts in order to maximise its efficiency in packing together, and ultimately creating a structure, ie a human, etc a tree.
I then took this idea and worked with it in a rigid, hard material such as stone, setting up a contrast in outcome yet working from the same starting point. Can the stone be made to look soft, and tactile? Squishy and soft?