|
| |
|
THE
ECONOMIST |
| presented
by |
|
Contemporary |
|
Art |
|
Society |
| Kate
Davis |
| Target
(London) 2005 |
| 11
May - 5 August 2005 |
 
|
| ©
Kate Davis Target (London), 2005 (photographs by Stella Von Boch) |
|
For
her solo exhibition at The Economist Plaza, Kate Davis
presents the third work in her Target sculpture
series. The first was made in Poland, the second in
Australia – which won The Sydney Water Sculpture
Prize in 2002 and is now in Campbellnewtown Gallery
Collection, Sydney. The Economist Plaza is the third.
In each case the Target sculptures used the
trunk of a native tree. |
|
The
work at Economist is constructed from an English Holm
Oak (Querus ilex) and consists of the whole 12m trunk
divided into two sections. Fish-eye mirrors have been
inserted into the widest ends and, at the other ends
are fixed flat circular mirrors. The two sections are
then sited on the plaza to reflect surrounding
architecture and passer-bys crossing from one side of
the space to the other. |
|
On
the opposite wall facing the piece is a line of wall
text reading:
Fancy
a willow, fell an ash, find an oak
This
references the process of making the work as well as
the happenstance that can occur in everyday life.
During the process of making this piece, Davis
travelled the country in search of a willow,
eventually decided on an ash, only to discover once
the tree was felled, that it was in fact an oak. In
addition to the pieces visible on the Plaza, a
charcoal /ink drawing of the topmost branch of the oak
and its fruit [the acorn] has been placed inside the
Economist Building. |
|
Davis’s use of native trees draws on rich and complex
references from history, tradition and folklore. Trees
have often been perceived as a link between earth and
sky, as a channel/doorway between the earth
[mortality] and the heavens [spirituality]. Similarly
mirrors have often been used as an aid for prophecy
and foretellings. In this way, trees represent
doorways, both mental and spiritual to the imagination
or dream world. According to Nature mystics, of all
ages, the oak is a doorway like all other trees. |
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The
Artist would like to thank Matt Galpin, Lucy Quinnell,
Adam Boydell and Richard Quinnell. |
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|
Current Exhibition
Forthcoming Exhibition |
|
