Lot 130: ROGER HIORNS

COPPER SULPHATE CHARTRES & COPPER SULPHATE NOTRE-DAME

137.2 by 124.5 by 64.8cm.; 54 by 49 by 25 1/2 in.

card construction with copper sulphate chemical growth mounted on glass and wood trestle table with perspex cover underlit by two strip lights

Executed in 1996.

Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner

Roger Hiorns, who transformed a condemned south London flat by enshrouding it with iridescent copper sulphate crystals, is among four artists nominated for the 2009 Turner Prize. He is an artist of alchemy and the uncontrollable, using eclectic materials including detergent, disinfectant, perfume and other chemical solutions, to crystallize and transform the readymade, used as an explicit point of departure. In this work, Hiorns grew crystals on a cardboard architectural maquette, testing the object's status and significance. He explained that whilst he created sculptural objects, they were also extensions of psychological thought; a fear of losing control of one's personal structures. Here, there also exists an element of autonomy for the artwork; there is a point at which the artist must stand back and allow the chemical reactions to create their own aesthetic, enabling Hiorns to take an objective role in the process. It is the artist's intention to create a new phase for his selected objects, to de-identify and subsequently alter their inherent qualities, often achieving haunting and mesmerizing results.