Mark Murphy
A Monument for the Many
UK
This collage seeks to invert the idea of the exceptional individual, where a single person is elevated and instead imagines the pillar as a place that could be accessed by the people - Birr locals and visitors alike - to gain a different or longer view; a new perspective. This offer of elevation to all people could provide a temporary space for contemplation.
I was struck by the idea of the need for more gonshi (Scholars rocks / objects of contemplation) - the division of space in the piece responds to this idea and hints at order/chaos - ying/yang perhaps. The collaged section suggests an ascent to the tip of the column and the emptiness is a space of contemplation. How do we learn from the mistakes of the past and move into the future together, navigating the many challenges we face collectively, with compassion and dignity?
The obscured figure at work could suggest the young architect Samuel Chearnley who designed the column or even the gifted Abbot whose magnificent illuminated Macregol Gospel created almost a 1000 years earlier is also associated with the town.
A Monument for the Many
UK
This collage seeks to invert the idea of the exceptional individual, where a single person is elevated and instead imagines the pillar as a place that could be accessed by the people - Birr locals and visitors alike - to gain a different or longer view; a new perspective. This offer of elevation to all people could provide a temporary space for contemplation.
I was struck by the idea of the need for more gonshi (Scholars rocks / objects of contemplation) - the division of space in the piece responds to this idea and hints at order/chaos - ying/yang perhaps. The collaged section suggests an ascent to the tip of the column and the emptiness is a space of contemplation. How do we learn from the mistakes of the past and move into the future together, navigating the many challenges we face collectively, with compassion and dignity?
The obscured figure at work could suggest the young architect Samuel Chearnley who designed the column or even the gifted Abbot whose magnificent illuminated Macregol Gospel created almost a 1000 years earlier is also associated with the town.