“I used the Tate collection as a trigger to analyse the uncomfortable relationship I’ve had with British sculpture over the years, which when I started out was the benchmark of goodness and rightness,” elephant.art, Phyllida Barlow [online] At: https://elephant.art/space-time-two-decades-of-commissions-in-the-duveen-galleries-17052021/ (Accessed 06.06.2022)
Phyllida Barlow, Dock (install), 2014. © Phyllida Barlow. Photo: Alex Delfanne. Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth [online] At: https://elephant.art/space-time-two-decades-of-commissions-in-the-duveen-galleries-17052021/ (Accessed 06.06.2022)
All the artist's work, in my opinion, was formed from the rejection of standards and stereotypes, which she repeatedly pointed out in her interviews, mentioning the academicism and one-sidedness of her teachers. At the same time, she pays special attention to Duchamp's urinal, which has changed the meaning of everyday objects. Here I see a connection with Barlow's use of these common everyday items to interpret real life events. This is how the artist contrasts the arrogance of space, for example, in the project for the Duveen Galleries, with her ordinary artistic rubbish. "I wanted to confront the incredible arrogance of that space with something that has gone and disappeared.” Phyllida Barlow: An age of fallen monuments, Louisiana Channel 2014 [online] At: https://vimeo.com/95850851 (Accessed 06.06.2022)
For Balrow, creating a sculpture is about the act of making, living the moment with the material. The artist seeks to respond in the present to the past.
"All our lives are about constantly losing. The moment is always disappearing, like sand between our fingers. So what is it, we are actually left with? (Phyllida Barlow: An age of fallen monuments, Louisiana Channel 2014 [online] At: https://vimeo.com/95850851 (Accessed 06.06.2022)
The artist also notes the grandeur and "former glory" of the pomposity and political power of 19th century Britain, with the size of his sculptural composition. This is a parallel in the perception of the size of modern sculpture in relation to the building of the past. The stability of the building and its longevity and what remains after it.
Pile, filling, there is practically no room for a person in this room. This creates a sense of congestion and, perhaps, an overload of space. Here you can think, why all this? What will be left after?
It is interesting to note that now, when I am in a situation of extreme emotional instability (because of the war that Russia started), for me this work changes its connotation to sadly pessimistic. Mankind erects structures to celebrate their importance, and over time everything disappears or changes greatly. In general, everything. Nothing is stable, especially when it comes to people. Regarding the analyzed object of art, I think that initially, the artist did not lay down such radical ideas, but this is what I read now under the influence of today.
Bibliography and references
1. Lentini, D. (2021) Phyllida Barlow. Frontier. House der Kunst, Munich. Eberl & Koesel GmbH & Co.KG, Kempten
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