Lard

Home Page speedboat Strait down the line Lard S.N.A.L.S.D. Neither here Nei fanna

G39 durational installation -'Lard'

In October 2003 I created an installation at G39 (Contemporary temporay artspace), Cardiff. Which saw the first introduction of lard and has now become an important component of later works. The piece exhibited at the gallery encompassed site-specific elements, notably being sited near Cardiff most famous â€˜Chip alleyâ€™. The installation, used 12kg of lard over the whole duration of the show. Since then, I have been experimenting with using the material as a means of creating new durational works. Many incorporate a multi-discipline approach; additionally, most of the concepts use kinetic elements, as a means of driving a process. The works I create use a variety of different disciplines and are seen as works in themselves and props for future installation pieces.

Picture Image 1 is a view of the main element of the piece, the scales. The lamp type object assembled together with the frying basket acted as a catalyst in beginning the process of melting the block of lard (see Image 2). Throughout the course of the show the gallery invigilators, daily came back to reset the scales by adding another 500g block of lard. The scales would be counter balanced by two plastic rucksacks (illuminated by a slide projector lamp), one was filled with water and the other was empty (see Image 5). The scales would gradually move the yellow bag from being in the beam of the projector to the blue (see image 6). Casting an aluminising shadow of itself onto the gallery wall (see image 7).

Over the period of the show, an unpredictable sculptural mound of lard was created (see image 3 [image shows it at the latter part of the show]). In a feeble attempt to catch some of the lard, which was falling on the floor a cooking oil pan-scoop was placed. The pan-scoop formed an additional kinetic element to the work, controlled by a timed DC motor; every now and again gave a short jerking movement (see image 4).