As a sculptor I find great importance in giving strength to fragile materials – it is this vein of fragility and vulnerability which runs deep through all aspects of my current practice. My work is heavily influenced by minimalist architecture and repetitions of geometric forms, as well as the Japanese concept of ‘ma’, which explores ideas around a space delivering an experience.
This kinetic piece is fuelled by my anger at the mistreatment of and lack of support for the most vulnerable communities in our society. One in five UK residents now live below the poverty line and the income inequality we are experiencing is desperate. The wealthiest 1% in the UK have approximately 12.9% of the country’s total income, whereas the poorest 50% of us have just 8.7% (OECD).
Marbles run through this artwork like currency and over time will end up at the nightmarish outcome of our capitalist society; that one day perhaps, the wealthiest in our society will have 100% of the UK’s total income, our lives will be totally dependent on and controlled by them.
In effect, I am arguing against the fictional prosperity of ‘Trickle Down Economics’, by subtly placing the economic reality in an interactive, playful, marble run metaphor. Here marbles represent money; in a society where all individuals have a labour value, we play God with the lives presented to us in a rigged game with one inevitable outcome.
