Chamber of Mesh
Matrix III, 2019
Approximately 6 tonnes of 6 mm mild steel reinforcing mesh
This vast cloud is a mesmerising visual labyrinth, hewn from an ordinary industrial material. 98% recycled, the steel mesh – commonly used to reinforce concrete walls – is transformed into a complex phenomenon, by way of hundreds of thousands of spot welds done by hand. Designed especially for this gallery, 21 suspended room-size cages intersect, surrounding a small concentrated chamber. This void at the core is what Gormley calls “the space of dreaming”, and is equivalent to the average size of a European new-build bedroom. Looking up at this structure, our ability to perceive distance is challenged: our eyes struggle to decide what is close or far, in front or behind.
The certainty and solidity of the three-dimensional world is undermined. Gormley has described ‘Matrix III’ as “the ghost of the environment we’ve all chosen to accept as our primary habitat”.
[Royal Academy]
Taken at Antony Gormley
(21 September — 3 December 2019)
The exhibition will explore Gormley’s wide-ranging use of organic, industrial and elemental materials over the years, including iron, steel, hand-beaten lead, seawater and clay. We will also bring to light rarely-seen early works from the 1970s and 1980s, some of which led to Gormley using his own body as a tool to create work, as well as a selection of his pocket sketchbooks and drawings.
Throughout a series of experiential installations, some brand-new, some remade for the RA’s galleries, we will invite visitors to slow down and become aware of their own bodies. Highlights include Clearing VII, an immersive ‘drawing in space’ made from kilometres of coiled, flexible metal, and Lost Horizon I, 24 life-size cast iron figures set at different orientations on the walls, floor and ceiling – challenging our perception of which way is up.
Perhaps best-known for his 200-tonne Angel of the North installation near Gateshead, and his project involving 2,400 members of the public for Trafalgar Square’s the Fourth Plinth, Antony Gormley is one of the UK’s most celebrated sculptors.
[Royal Academy]
Chamber of Mesh
Matrix III, 2019
Approximately 6 tonnes of 6 mm mild steel reinforcing mesh
This vast cloud is a mesmerising visual labyrinth, hewn from an ordinary industrial material. 98% recycled, the steel mesh – commonly used to reinforce concrete walls – is transformed into a complex phenomenon, by way of hundreds of thousands of spot welds done by hand. Designed especially for this gallery, 21 suspended room-size cages intersect, surrounding a small concentrated chamber. This void at the core is what Gormley calls “the space of dreaming”, and is equivalent to the average size of a European new-build bedroom. Looking up at this structure, our ability to perceive distance is challenged: our eyes struggle to decide what is close or far, in front or behind.
The certainty and solidity of the three-dimensional world is undermined. Gormley has described ‘Matrix III’ as “the ghost of the environment we’ve all chosen to accept as our primary habitat”.
[Royal Academy]
Taken at Antony Gormley
(21 September — 3 December 2019)
The exhibition will explore Gormley’s wide-ranging use of organic, industrial and elemental materials over the years, including iron, steel, hand-beaten lead, seawater and clay. We will also bring to light rarely-seen early works from the 1970s and 1980s, some of which led to Gormley using his own body as a tool to create work, as well as a selection of his pocket sketchbooks and drawings.
Throughout a series of experiential installations, some brand-new, some remade for the RA’s galleries, we will invite visitors to slow down and become aware of their own bodies. Highlights include Clearing VII, an immersive ‘drawing in space’ made from kilometres of coiled, flexible metal, and Lost Horizon I, 24 life-size cast iron figures set at different orientations on the walls, floor and ceiling – challenging our perception of which way is up.
Perhaps best-known for his 200-tonne Angel of the North installation near Gateshead, and his project involving 2,400 members of the public for Trafalgar Square’s the Fourth Plinth, Antony Gormley is one of the UK’s most celebrated sculptors.
[Royal Academy]