Untitled (Public sculpture for a redundant space), 2018

Mike Nelson RA (b. 1968)

RA Collection: Art

Nelson created Untitled (Public sculpture for a redundant space) as a prototype for a group of three sculptures commissioned for the High Line in New York. Having previously connected industrial areas around western Manhattan, this disused elevated railway line reopened in 2009 as a leafy, linear public park.

The three finished works commissioned by High Line Art were exhibited in the 2016-17 Wanderlust exhibition, incorporating themes of walking, exploration, and the desire for nature in an urban environment. Nelson's New York sculptures were created from sleeping bags filled with rubble and other debris found on the Manhattan construction sites nearby.

Untitled (Public sculpture for a redundant space) embodies several aspects of Nelson’s practice. Having worked as a builder when he was younger, the artist often uses discarded materials to create site-specific installations. As Nelson explains, "When you're building there is always a surplus of plaster or concrete. Builders fill the old sand bags or cement bags with the residue before throwing them away."

The sculptures blur the boundary between figurative representation and land art. For Wanderlust, Nelson positioned the sculptures amongst the wildflowers and vegetation growing on the High Line, as if they were campers or rough sleepers hidden on the fringes. Only on closer inspection would passers-by recognise that the sleeping bags were filled with waste construction material.

This prototype version, created in the UK, contains waste materials found on a site close to Nelson’s studio in Crystal Palace. Exhibited at the Royal Academy's 2018 Summer Exhibition, the work was displayed on the institution's grand main staircase. As Nelson explains, "the resulting object is something rather more loaded than a cement bag full of concrete. ... As a sculptural object, it has a sarcophagus or mummy-like sense. When you look into it, the suffocating rubble within represents the sense of loss in the modern world's processes of production, especially in the housing market." Untitled (public sculpture for a redundant space) was awarded the 2018 Wollaston Award for the most distinguished work in the Summer Exhibition.

Sources



https://www.thehighline.org/art/projects/wanderlust/

https://www.303gallery.com/public-exhibitions/mike-nelson12?view=slider

https://artbasel.com/rooms/specialsector/23209/Untitled-Intimate-Sculpture-for-a-Public-Space

https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/article/summer-exhibition-2018-prizes

https://www.kingston.ac.uk/news/article/2099/31-aug-2018-kingston-school-of-art-professor-mike-nelson-wins-royal-academy-of-arts-prestigious-wollaston-award/