This was a really fun one to make.
The rack was an artifact of the capitalist system, made obsolete. I resented its presence on my street, yet I suppose I also felt sorry for it. And I sensed its opportunity. What can I say, I can’t hold myself out of this system.
The logic for making my works also came because of the rack. Designed to hold multiples (at least 16 types) of an object, plus a sign, it had very specific parameters. As did the objects it once held. While hanging from the rack designed to hold them, these 16 types of product had to be similar enough to fit, but different enough to require their own place in the grid. Their dimensions – length, width, height and weight – were almost identical, but their uniqueness was enough to necessitate that multiples of each of them be kept in the one store.
Intriguing, eh? I have my suspicions of what the rack held, but they didn’t pique my interest enough to investigate further. Instead I took it upon myself to design 18 versions of the same object, in two (almost identical) types, using the same ingredients for each one.
Simple!
Each neckpiece has a circumference of 800mm (give or take) making it suitable for most people to wear. The leftover material – available once the 800mm circumference parameter was met – became tassels decorating that piece. Thus the 12 Arm works each contain the same amount of green rack as one another, as do the 6 Row works. Pricing is based on the time it took to make each piece, which went up as each Arm or Row was sliced into more parts. Thus the more tassels contained, the pricier.
Each work is different, yet kinda the same.
Thanks capitalism!
Please check the full-sized images out at Bridget Kennedy Project Space and pop the Zoom talk in your calendar to see the pieces in motion with Bridget. The surfaces really are luscious and they each have a very pleasing weight – the benefit of the lighter weight of steel compared to most jewellery metals. Each piece was polished up with microcrystalline wax to protect the paint, which really brought out the beautiful green colour.
