Object Details

Afloat

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Location
Makers
General Information
Classification
Object Parts
Object Condition
History
References
Photographs


Author: Anthony McIntosh
Copyright for Photograph:

Creative Commons

Location

Street:Grand Junction Road
Town:Brighton
Parish:Brighton
Council:Brighton & Hove City Council
County:East Sussex
Postcode:BN1
Location on Google Map
Object setting:Other
Access is:Public
Location note:Opposite East Street, at the end of East Street Groyne, West of the Palace Pier
In the AZ book:East Sussex
Page:162
Grid reference:E9
The A-Z books used are A-Z East Sussex and A-Z West Sussex (Editions 1A 2005). Geographers' A-Z Map Company Ltd. Sevenoaks.

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Makers

Name : Hamish Black
Company/Group :Pangolin Editions, Gloucestershire
     Role:Foundry

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General Information

Commissioned by: Brighton Borough Council through National Lottery grant.
Construction period:1995
Unveiling date:1998
Work is:Extant
Owner custodian:Brighton & Hove City Council
Object listing:Not listed
Description:The shape comes from a taurus form (a speculative form for how black holes might look). Based on a globe, the points at the north and south poles are pushed together through the sphere, forming a central hole where they meet. Viewing ‘Afloat’ from the beach end of the promontory is therefore seeing it from what would have been one of the poles. The concentric radial indentations around its surface are the longitudinal lines. Major world continents exist as negative shapes cut out of the form in recesses deep enough to exclude light. The continents are not in realistic proportion to one another and they float, seemingly adrift, across the surface. The site for ‘Afloat’, on the end of a small promontory, was selected to enable the viewer, when looking seawards, to see the horizon through the central hole in the sculpture. It appears as a line following through the lines of longitude on the sculpture. The blue/green patination forms a link to the ever changing colour of the sky and the sea.’
Signatures:On the bronze base of the sculpture, facing the road:
AFLOAT Hamish Black
1998

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Classification

Categories:Sculptural, Free Standing, Abstract
Object type1:Sculpture
Subject type1:Non-figurative

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Object Parts

Part 1:Sculpture
     Material:Bronze, patinated blue/green
     Width (cm):250
     Depth (cm):250

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Object Condition

Overall condition:Good
Risk assessment:No known risk
Condition 1 of type:Vandalism
     Condition 1: Graffiti
     More details:Graffiti is evident on all sides of the bronze.
Date of on-site inspection:19/04/2007

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History

History:‘Hamish Black draws inspiration for his sculpture from the world of science, in particular particle physics. He is interested in the speculative models that scientists make to understand the world of matter and he sees a connecting relationship with the artists’ interest in manipulating matter to express ideas. This is combined with a long term interest and research into maps. He is exploring the visual forms that we use to describe the world as we see it, as scientists explain it to us, and beyond our world into space. He is often working on two or three lines of enquiry at the same time.’
‘Afloat’ is made of bronze, patinated blue/green. The idea for the sculpture was initiated in 1995 and it is part of an ongoing series called ‘One World’. The shape comes from a taurus form (a speculative form for how black holes might look). Based on a globe, the points at the north and south poles are pushed together through the sphere, forming a central hole where they meet. Viewing ‘Afloat’ from the beach end of the promontory is therefore seeing it from what would have been one of the poles. The concentric radial indentations around its surface are the longitudinal lines. Major world continents exist as negative shapes cut out of the form in recesses deep enough to exclude light. The continents are not in realistic proportion to one another and they float, seemingly adrift, across the surface.
The site for ‘Afloat’, on the end of a small promontory, was selected to enable the viewer, when looking seawards, to see the horizon through the central hole in the sculpture. It appears as a line following through the lines of longitude on the sculpture. The blue/green patination forms a link to the ever changing colour of the sky and the sea.
‘Afloat’ is made of 2.2 tons of bronze, 5-6mm thick.'
(‘Brighton Seafront Sculpture Project: teachers pack’)
Hard archive file:Yes

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References


Further information:
http://www.hamishblack.com/

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Photographs





Date: 19/04/2007
Author: Anthony McIntosh
Copyright: Creative Commons




Date: 19/04/2007
Author: Anthony McIntosh
Copyright: Creative Commons




Date: 19/04/2007
Author: Anthony McIntosh
Copyright: Creative Commons




Date: 19/04/2007
Author: Anthony McIntosh
Copyright: Creative Commons

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