 |
 |
Look Closer |
|
 |
| Cornelia Parker, Cold Dark
Matter: An Exploded View, 1991. © The artist. |
About this artwork
Cornelia Parker was born in Cheshire in I956 and lives and works in London. She
is interested in how everyday objects can be changed by (often violent) processes.
During her career she has used a steamroller to flatten silver plates and has
transformed a wedding ring into metres of fine, gold thread. Although at first
glance it might seem that she is interested in destroying objects, she is in fact
fascinated by how change can create something completely new.
Cold Dark Matter began life as a garden shed filled with
objects from her own and friends’ sheds and things bought at
a car boot sale. She then asked the army to blow up the shed under
very controlled conditions. The objects, along with the fragments
of the shed, were collected and suspended in a closed room in an attempt
to recreate the moment just after the explosion. The installation
is lit with a single light-bulb at the very centre of the arrangement,
casting shadows on the walls. The title gives us a whole new way of
understanding the artwork, making us think of other dramatic moments
of destruction and creation in the much wider universe. |
|
look closer
read stories