ELEPHANT BED
Fabrica, Brighton, UK and Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA.
2009 - 2010
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Related articles:
Whatcom Museum Exhibition Catalog
2010 Fabrica Exhibition Catalog (English)
2010 Fabrica Exhibition Catalog (French) 2010
Sculpture 2010
Seattle Times 2011
Stranger 2010The individual forms of the sculpture echo the shape of a Coccolithiphore, a microscopic type of phytoplankton that surrounds itself with plating made of limestone (calcite). When coccolithiphores die, their outer shell sinks to the ocean floor. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, these shells accumulated a sedimentary layer that can be seen today as the white cliffs of Dover along England’s southern coast. Geologists informally refer to this exposed strata as the “Elephant Bed”. The Elephant Bed was created twice. At Fabrica, in Brighton (UK), one side of the exhibition space (a deconsecrated church) accommodated a large pool of diluted India ink. Half of the sculptures were suspended over the ink pool and the other half were hung accessible to visitors in the remaining space. A single line of filament suspended each sculpture. Each of these 20 lines ran on pulleys. Together they converged above the pulpit and ran down to the lectern like a harp. Visitors could pull or release any line, lifting a sculpture above the floor to allow people to access the interior of a form or, alternately, lower it into the pool of ink, where it would dissolve. At the conclusion of the exhibition, half of the sculptures had been completely lowered into the pool of ink and dissolved. The remaining ten sculptures were carried out of the space, through the city’s narrow lanes, and into the English Channel, where they instantly dissolved in the breaking waves. At the conclusion of the second iteration of the Elephant Bed at the Whatcom Museum, a procession of the sculptures heading en route to Bellingham Bay was intercepted by three teams of fire fighters who sprayed the sculptures apart with pressurized hoses. The strewn particles of the sculpture disintegrated into the seaside grass rather than reaching the sea.
IMAGES
Elephant Bed, Fabrica, Brighton, UK and Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA. 2009 – 2010. Each of twenty forms was 6’ dia x 24’h. Made of folded skins of a binderless paper product called Dissolvo, and reinforced with internal ribs of rigid, corn-based plastic. The sculptures were entirely biodegradable.
ELEPHANT BED
Fabrica, Brighton, UK and Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA.
2009 - 2010
Related articles:
Whatcom Museum Exhibition Catalog 2010
Fabrica Exhibition Catalog (English) 2010
Fabrica Exhibition Catalog (French) 2010
Sculpture 2010
Seattle Times 2011
Stranger 2010
The individual forms of the sculpture echo the shape of a Coccolithiphore, a microscopic type of phytoplankton that surrounds itself with plating made of limestone (calcite). When coccolithiphores die, their outer shell sinks to the ocean floor. Hundreds of thousands of years ago, these shells accumulated a sedimentary layer that can be seen today as the white cliffs of Dover along England’s southern coast. Geologists informally refer to this exposed strata as the “Elephant Bed”. The Elephant Bed was created twice. At Fabrica, in Brighton (UK), one side of the exhibition space (a deconsecrated church) accommodated a large pool of diluted India ink. Half of the sculptures were suspended over the ink pool and the other half were hung accessible to visitors in the remaining space. A single line of filament suspended each sculpture. Each of these 20 lines ran on pulleys. Together they converged above the pulpit and ran down to the lectern like a harp. Visitors could pull or release any line, lifting a sculpture above the floor to allow people to access the interior of a form or, alternately, lower it into the pool of ink, where it would dissolve. At the conclusion of the exhibition, half of the sculptures had been completely lowered into the pool of ink and dissolved. The remaining ten sculptures were carried out of the space, through the city’s narrow lanes, and into the English Channel, where they instantly dissolved in the breaking waves. At the conclusion of the second iteration of the Elephant Bed at the Whatcom Museum, a procession of the sculptures heading en route to Bellingham Bay was intercepted by three teams of fire fighters who sprayed the sculptures apart with pressurized hoses. The strewn particles of the sculpture disintegrated into the seaside grass rather than reaching the sea.
IMAGES
Elephant Bed, Fabrica, Brighton, UK and Whatcom Museum, Bellingham, WA. 2009 – 2010. Each of twenty forms was 6’ dia x 24’h. Made of folded skins of a binderless paper product called Dissolvo, and reinforced with internal ribs of rigid, corn-based plastic. The sculptures were entirely biodegradable.
PROCESS
Seventy-five people contributed their time assembling the Elephant Bed at Fabrica over a two-week period. All of the parts for the twenty sculptures were folded flat and fit inside three suitcases for the trip from the Seattle studio to the UK. Sets of jigs guided people to score, fold and bond the parts so that they would all accurately come together. Telescoping sections of bamboo supported the interior of each sculpture that was carried out of the gallery and into the city lanes. The sculptures were vulnerable to rain and wind while en route to the sea. Each sculpture weighed only 8 pounds.