Rocks holding up #3b, 2018-2024 continues to question how the expectations and agency of materials can be revealed and inverted in sculptural practice through the framework of abfunction - a neologism that identifies a move away from function in the outcomes and production of art. In this artwork, two 1.5 metre long granite lengths with an uncut edge are used to compress hot blown glass for a site specific installation at Quarantine Station, Point Nepean. As an outcome the glass performs the unlikely act of suspending one of the 30kg lengths, revealing the uncanny capacity of glass, a material understood to be fragile and weak to hold unexpected weight.
NTRO Output Category
- Original Creative Work : Visual artwork
Place
Point NepeanVenue
Quarantine StationNTRO Publisher
Sarah Scout PresentsStart Date
2025-01-08End Date
2025-01-11Medium
Sculpture - Harcourt granite from the lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung and glassResearch Statement
Since the 20th century, and with the New Materialist turn, materials used within sculptural practice have been understood to have agency. This sculptural work questions how the notion of abfunction (a neologism that identifies the move away from function in the outcomes and production of art), can invert expected material agency within sculptural practice.
Rocks holding up #3b extends an understanding of abfunctional material possibilities in an artwork through the synchronous engagement of granite and glass with the site specific installation at Quarantine Station. Here, the process of the casting glass bubble in conjunction with the granite stone and working in a choreographed fashion with the glass blowers determines the form and shape of the glass bubble. As an outcome the glass performs the unlikely act of suspending one of the 30kg lengths. This act of suspension reveals the uncanny capacity of glass, a material understood to be fragile and weak to hold unexpected weight. In addition the installation extends the abfunctional principle by installing the artwork across the window, simultaneously blocking the window but also accessing the light to reveal the suspended lift in the artwork.
A variation of this artwork was included in an installation called “Rocks Holding Up” at the well-respected commercial gallery, Sarah Scout Present, in Melbourne in 2019. This led to a new installation at the Quarantine Art Fair, 2025. This body of work has prompted the invitation to produce a solo exhibition at Heide Museum of Art, at the iconic McGlashan and Everist modernist house in 2026.Size or Duration of Work
40x 142 x 50cm, 65 kg. Exhibition dates: 8/01/2025-11/01/2025Affiliation
Simone Slee, University of Melbourne
