Afloat
| Browse information by: 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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