Bringing the sculpture out of the object.

text by Timothy Briggs

Andrew March was introduced to sculpture in the 1980s, a time when British sculptors were re-asserting the object as a viable means of expression. Initially the object was seen as an alternative to time based art and performance, but what started out as a vehicle for change soon became a sculptural language in its own right.

Evident in his work is an interest in the easthetic and ideological language of the ‘ready made’’. However, his work differs significantly from this tradition.

All the sculptures have been made. This act of making is a tactile, sculptural handling of the object. It is about perfection and refinement. Often using incongurous materials to re-create the object. It is a proces of transformation. With the original, intended function being largely ignored, the object is free to be treated as an abstract sculptural element.

March is interested in the objects outer most layer. The external characteristics that make it recognizable. By disregarding the function and any internal mechanisums and spaces, and by simplifying form, accentuating colour and changing scale the object is personified, taking on a unique character. It is almost a Platonic idea of reducing the object to a basic common experiance.

It is not his intention to make an ideological statement by using the object, neither is it ment to add allegory or narrative to the work.

His interest is to explore the objects sculptural potential. Due to the objects nature and our associations with it, it will always retain some of its former identity. It is this paradox that provides the context and the objective logic on which the sculptures are based.

 

 

 

 



CRITICAL TEXT

by
Timothy Briggs
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