Salt, acrylic, acetal, aluminium, motor, fasteners, wire rope, electrical wire
120cm x 120cm x 30cm
I spent December 2017 at Arteles Creative Centre in rural Finland.
AND THE SUN WAS FILLED WITH SALT emerged in response to the deep Finnish winter, where the muted sun appeared low on the horizon for only a few hours each day, and where dawn and dusk were long, drawn-out, unassuming affairs. It began with the idea of creating a large aperture mechanism that, in opening and closing, would change the amount of light coming into the gallery. However, as the work developed it metamorphosed into something other, and eventually became AND THE SUN WAS FILLED WITH SALT. It contains two vessels of equal volume – one large, flat and narrow, the other small and spherical – held within a slowly rotating wheel. As the wheel turns, salt flows from one vessel to the other, generating a constantly moving, tilted horizon in the larger vessel. Light gently diffuses through the salt. As the salt moves, varying densities create subtle, shifting patterns, both in the salt itself and in ghostly powder on the vessel’s surfaces.
The exhibition catalogue can be viewed here.
Images by the artist.