By kind permission of The Collection
Rock ‘n’ Hole (2005)
An installation comprising of a metal and glass cabinet containing four metal shelving units that hold a number of stone cores on each of its shelves. Located in the entrance foyer on the approach to The Collection museum, Lincoln.
Commissioned by City of Lincoln Council as part of the public art programme for The Collection, this installation responds to the content of the museum and the ideas of threshold and revelation, presence and absence.
Using a technique from the construction industry, an industrial coring machine (normally used to explore the composition of the ground beneath a given surface) was used to remove cylinders of stone material collected from the local area of Lincolnshire. The cores reveal the structure of the ground beneath the surface of the locality in an almost forensic manner, immediately suggesting the idea of excavation and the removal of material to another site. In this way the approaching visitor encounters ideas associated with the museum’s mission before entering the exhibition space. The displaced material increases the sense of the physicality of the land and architecture being open to exploration and disruption in the pursuit of ideas beneath the surface.
About the Artist
Richard Wilson (1953 –)
Richard Wilson is internationally recognised for his interventions in architectural space, drawing on methods and ideas inspired by engineering and construction. He has exhibited widely nationally and internationally and has made major museum exhibitions and public works in countries including Japan, USA, Brazil, Russia and Australia. He is widely known for his installation 20:50, a sea of reflective sump oil, which is permanently installed in the Saatchi Collection.
In 2004, Wilson was appointed visiting Research Professor at the University of East London and in 2006, was elected as a member of the Royal Academy.
www.richardwilsonsculptor.com/biography
By kind permission of The Collection