Proposal for Jerwood Price: ‘Tin’

I would like to build a tin with the top slightly opened / nearly closed. The sculpture should be 1.50 metre high, 2,20 metre in diameter and will be cast in aluminium.

My starting point was a small household item, which is used for storage in kitchens. The ready-made becomes monumental to point out that its top is set in a slopping position. With its reductive shape the origin becomes unclear, the shape is also reminiscent of a hamburger or could be seen as abstract. Laconically slanted, the upper part seems to move – it appears to open or shut down. The direction remains uncertain and ambivalent. This creates an expectation: We become curious what is going on and what could be hiding or revealing.

My intention is to create an emotional impact – I would like to convey a sense of a comic and monumental appearance at the same time. On the one hand I am keen on a sculptural presence and belligerence stressed by the clear shape, the smooth surface and the size related to our bodies. On the other hand the sculpture should have a deadpan humour. The slanting shape, the trivial subject and the lip around the middle, create a funny and senseless look. The tin seems to be animated like a comic character.
This ambiguity between the odd and the overwhelming triggers an emotion that makes you smile and shiver at the same time. The simplistic shape of the ring unifies the ambivalence of both contradictive appeals.

The ambivalence is created with sculptural means. Within the reductive form my task and challenge as a sculptor is to model the two different emotions in one thing. Opening and closing, grace and silliness are mingled and frozen in an autonomous object.

The sculpture will be titled ´Tin´.