Keepsafe (Ⅰ ) A Tapestry by Yelena Popova
This is one of two woven tapestries by the artist Yelena Papova in a small exhibition in the Holden Gallery which is in the Manchester School of Art which we visited in early March . I found them incredibly beautiful even though their subject matter is a little dark they are representing the mausoleums that we will need to construct to keep old nuclear reactors safe .
I have added a wider shot at the top of the comments which show the tapestries in context with other works in the show that was called the Scholar stones project
A little bit about the show
On Christmas Day 2018, artist Yelena Popova took a stroll along the Suffolk shoreline, a short distance from the Sizewell nuclear power stations. Born in Ozyorsk, Russia – a closed city that was the birthplace of the Soviet nuclear weapons programme – Popova started to question the invisible impact of these energy houses, hidden in plain site. On the same day, she collected the first stone for the Scholar Stones Project.
Scholar stones (also known as gongshi) are naturally weathered rocks that often act as the focal point of a traditional Chinese garden. Initially defined by the Tang dynasty as an object that encouraged contemplation, Popova’s scholar stones are taken from the sites of decommissioned Magnox power reactors around the UK to make tangible the very real impact that nuclear energy production has on the ground under our feet.The collection of stones – which Popova curated after visiting seven different reactors – now stands at the centre of the Holden on a black floor that mimics the geometric design of the early reactor’s graphite core. Laser-cut from recycled material from previous exhibitions, the thin spread of circles and squares stands in direct contrast to the core that will still be making its mark on the environment until the end of this century.
Two tapestries rise off the centre of the back wall. Positioned where there had once been a large tapestry by Edward Burne-Jones, Keepsake I and II appear initially as a pleasing kaleidoscope of geometric shapes and bright colours. On closer inspection it becomes evident that the lower half of each tapestry contains the repeating pattern of the granite core, while the top half is an imposing building. Popova’s scholar stones congregate before the tapestries, paying their respects to the fearsome reactors entombed beneath triangular architecture evocative of the pyramids or Lenin’s mausoleum
An extra shot at the top of the comments
THANKS FOR YOUR VISITING BUT CAN I ASK YOU NOT TO FAVE AN IMAGE WITHOUT ALSO MAKING A COMMENT. MANY THANKS KEITH. ANYONE MAKING MULTIPLE FAVES WITHOUT COMMENTS WILL SIMPLY BE BLOCKED
Keepsafe (Ⅰ ) A Tapestry by Yelena Popova
This is one of two woven tapestries by the artist Yelena Papova in a small exhibition in the Holden Gallery which is in the Manchester School of Art which we visited in early March . I found them incredibly beautiful even though their subject matter is a little dark they are representing the mausoleums that we will need to construct to keep old nuclear reactors safe .
I have added a wider shot at the top of the comments which show the tapestries in context with other works in the show that was called the Scholar stones project
A little bit about the show
On Christmas Day 2018, artist Yelena Popova took a stroll along the Suffolk shoreline, a short distance from the Sizewell nuclear power stations. Born in Ozyorsk, Russia – a closed city that was the birthplace of the Soviet nuclear weapons programme – Popova started to question the invisible impact of these energy houses, hidden in plain site. On the same day, she collected the first stone for the Scholar Stones Project.
Scholar stones (also known as gongshi) are naturally weathered rocks that often act as the focal point of a traditional Chinese garden. Initially defined by the Tang dynasty as an object that encouraged contemplation, Popova’s scholar stones are taken from the sites of decommissioned Magnox power reactors around the UK to make tangible the very real impact that nuclear energy production has on the ground under our feet.The collection of stones – which Popova curated after visiting seven different reactors – now stands at the centre of the Holden on a black floor that mimics the geometric design of the early reactor’s graphite core. Laser-cut from recycled material from previous exhibitions, the thin spread of circles and squares stands in direct contrast to the core that will still be making its mark on the environment until the end of this century.
Two tapestries rise off the centre of the back wall. Positioned where there had once been a large tapestry by Edward Burne-Jones, Keepsake I and II appear initially as a pleasing kaleidoscope of geometric shapes and bright colours. On closer inspection it becomes evident that the lower half of each tapestry contains the repeating pattern of the granite core, while the top half is an imposing building. Popova’s scholar stones congregate before the tapestries, paying their respects to the fearsome reactors entombed beneath triangular architecture evocative of the pyramids or Lenin’s mausoleum
An extra shot at the top of the comments
THANKS FOR YOUR VISITING BUT CAN I ASK YOU NOT TO FAVE AN IMAGE WITHOUT ALSO MAKING A COMMENT. MANY THANKS KEITH. ANYONE MAKING MULTIPLE FAVES WITHOUT COMMENTS WILL SIMPLY BE BLOCKED