www.sculptureinthecity.org.uk:
The sculpture resembles a tall megaphone. However, Barlow herself described it as an approximation or substitution for the actual object. As part of its making, the sculpture has been hacked and reinvented into a new form.
A closer inspection reveals the materials, its texture, the colours, and the absence of technical functionality have left it with very little in common to a functioning megaphone. It interests me what sculpture is, its playing around with substitution, and where do those substitutions lead one? , Barlow noted.
By being at first suggestive to reality while depriving a relation to a real object, sculpture acts as a trigger, stimulating the imagination of the viewer to new creative forms, to memories and undiscovered fantasies.
www.sculptureinthecity.org.uk:
Phyllida Barlow s sculpture untitled: megaphone, 2014, towers six metres high and stands to the viewer as to announce a performance that has yet to begin.
www.jesus.cam.ac.uk:
Phyllida Barlow intends her two Untitled works of 2014 to be shown together. One includes a large cone-like funnel resembling a megaphone, while the other consists of a large number of stacked chairs. The viewer of the sculptures is bound to imagine the emission of sounds that have long since ceased, and the rapt attentiveness of an audience that has long since departed. There seems to be more than an echo here of the myth of Echo and Narcissus that has often been used as the subject of artworks. The imposing megaphone that is angle-poised on its tall mast recalls the figure of Narcissus leaning over his pool, while the pile of redundant seating implies his neglect of his lover, Echo.
In the myth, Narcissus rejection of the nymph Echo causes her to fade away until she dwindles to the function of a sounding board, echoing whatever he says. She is nothing more than an aural mirror the equivalent of a reflecting pool. The duplicate chairs of Barlow s assemblage are visual echoes of one another; moreover, they are folded flat and have lost both volume and function.
One is tempted to see this highly suggestive sculpture as an allegory of contemporary art, riskily asserting its value and importance regardless of audience reaction. Like the myth of Echo and Narcissus, it is a cautionary tale, with moral implications. Even when not needed, the chairs combine into an assertive presence; perhaps especially when they are not needed, they form a large and intractable mass; and yet each one is capable of implying an individual human presence, a reminder that people are not mere echoes of one another, but are unrepeatable mixtures of thoughts, feelings and perceptions with unique histories of experience.
The megaphone, on the other hand, is not a guarantee of human presence, but is just as likely to represent human absence; if not disconnection, then remote connection to a source of dubious authority. The implied attitude of audience to speaker is one of passive reception rather than interaction. And the somewhat oversized dimensions of the megaphone are a strong hint to the imagination that the balance of power in the relationship is unequal. Barlow s combination of elements in this installation is very emphatic its silence is intended to be deafening. It challenges the artist never to take for granted the terms of transmission in contemporary art, and challenges the viewers, the imaginary audience, to act up whenever the signal threatens to fade out.
www.hauserwirth.com:
For almost 60 years, British artist Phyllida Barlow took inspiration from her surroundings to create imposing installations that can be at once menacing and playful. She created large-scale yet anti-monumental sculptures from inexpensive, low-grade materials such as cardboard, fabric, plywood, polystyrene, scrim, plaster and cement. These constructions were often painted in industrial or vibrant colors, the seams of their construction left at times visible, revealing the means of their making.
www.sculptureinthecity.org.uk:
Phyllida Barlow s sculpture untitled: megaphone, 2014, towers six metres high and stands to the viewer as to announce a performance that has yet to begin.
The sculpture resembles a tall megaphone. However, Barlow herself described it as an approximation or substitution for the actual object. As part of its making, the sculpture has been hacked and reinvented into a new form. A closer inspection reveals the materials, its texture, the colours, and the absence of technical functionality have left it with very little in common to a functioning megaphone. It interests me what sculpture is, its playing around with substitution, and where do those substitutions lead one? , Barlow noted. By being at first suggestive to reality while depriving a relation to a real object, sculpture acts as a trigger, stimulating the imagination of the viewer to new creative forms, to memories and undiscovered fantasies.
www.hauserwirth.com:
Phyllida Barlow intends her two Untitled works of 2014 to be shown together. One includes a large cone-like funnel resembling a megaphone, while the other consists of a large number of stacked chairs. The viewer of the sculptures is bound to imagine the emission of sounds that have long since ceased, and the rapt attentiveness of an audience that has long since departed. There seems to be more than an echo here of the myth of Echo and Narcissus that has often been used as the subject of artworks. The imposing megaphone that is angle-poised on its tall mast recalls the figure of Narcissus leaning over his pool, while the pile of redundant seating implies his neglect of his lover, Echo. In the myth, Narcissus rejection of the nymph Echo causes her to fade away until she dwindles to the function of a sounding board, echoing whatever he says. She is nothing more than an aural mirror the equivalent of a reflecting pool. The duplicate chairs of Barlow s assemblage are visual echoes of one another; moreover, they are folded flat and have lost both volume and function.
www.jesus.cam.ac.uk:
One is tempted to see this highly suggestive sculpture as an allegory of contemporary art, riskily asserting its value and importance regardless of audience reaction. Like the myth of Echo and Narcissus, it is a cautionary tale, with moral implications. Even when not needed, the chairs combine into an assertive presence; perhaps especially when they are not needed, they form a large and intractable mass; and yet each one is capable of implying an individual human presence, a reminder that people are not mere echoes of one another, but are unrepeatable mixtures of thoughts, feelings and perceptions with unique histories of experience. The megaphone, on the other hand, is not a guarantee of human presence, but is just as likely to represent human absence; if not disconnection, then remote connection to a source of dubious authority. The implied attitude of audience to speaker is one of passive reception rather than interaction. And the somewhat oversized dimensions of the megaphone are a strong hint to the imagination that the balance of power in the relationship is unequal. Barlow s combination of elements in this installation is very emphatic its silence is intended to be deafening. It challenges the artist never to take for granted the terms of transmission in contemporary art, and challenges the viewers, the imaginary audience, to act up whenever the signal threatens to fade out.
www.palatinate.org.uk:
In the Gran Bretagna pavilion, she created an extraordinary pathway of towering pillars made with ordinary materials such as timber, concrete & fabric. The concrete megaphone found inside of the pavilion is, in my eyes, the linchpin of the installation: the gritty, criss-crossed cement sculpture protrudes amongst the phallic shaped statues. It stands out as a concrete metaphor amongst the abstract forms that surround it, carrying the humane yet hushed voice that Barlow never failed to add in her installations.
www.hauserwirth.com:
For almost 60 years, British artist Phyllida Barlow took inspiration from her surroundings to create imposing installations that can be at once menacing and playful. She created large-scale yet anti-monumental sculptures from inexpensive, low-grade materials such as cardboard, fabric, plywood, polystyrene, scrim, plaster and cement. These constructions were often painted in industrial or vibrant colors, the seams of their construction left at times visible, revealing the means of their making.
www.wikipedia.org:
Dame Phyllida Barlow DBE RA (4 April 1944 12 March 2023) was a British visual artist. She studied at Chelsea College of Art (1960 1963) and the Slade School of Art (1963 1966). She joined the staff of the Slade in the late 1960s and taught there for more than forty years. She retired from academia in 2009 and in turn became an emerita professor of fine art.
She had an important influence on younger generations of artists; at the Slade her students included Rachel Whiteread and ngela de la Cruz. In 2017 she represented Great Britain at the Venice Biennale.
The sculpture resembles a tall megaphone. However, Barlow herself described it as an approximation or substitution for the actual object. As part of its making, the sculpture has been hacked and reinvented into a new form.
A closer inspection reveals the materials, its texture, the colours, and the absence of technical functionality have left it with very little in common to a functioning megaphone. It interests me what sculpture is, its playing around with substitution, and where do those substitutions lead one? , Barlow noted.
By being at first suggestive to reality while depriving a relation to a real object, sculpture acts as a trigger, stimulating the imagination of the viewer to new creative forms, to memories and undiscovered fantasies.
www.sculptureinthecity.org.uk:
Phyllida Barlow s sculpture untitled: megaphone, 2014, towers six metres high and stands to the viewer as to announce a performance that has yet to begin.
www.jesus.cam.ac.uk:
Phyllida Barlow intends her two Untitled works of 2014 to be shown together. One includes a large cone-like funnel resembling a megaphone, while the other consists of a large number of stacked chairs. The viewer of the sculptures is bound to imagine the emission of sounds that have long since ceased, and the rapt attentiveness of an audience that has long since departed. There seems to be more than an echo here of the myth of Echo and Narcissus that has often been used as the subject of artworks. The imposing megaphone that is angle-poised on its tall mast recalls the figure of Narcissus leaning over his pool, while the pile of redundant seating implies his neglect of his lover, Echo.
In the myth, Narcissus rejection of the nymph Echo causes her to fade away until she dwindles to the function of a sounding board, echoing whatever he says. She is nothing more than an aural mirror the equivalent of a reflecting pool. The duplicate chairs of Barlow s assemblage are visual echoes of one another; moreover, they are folded flat and have lost both volume and function.
One is tempted to see this highly suggestive sculpture as an allegory of contemporary art, riskily asserting its value and importance regardless of audience reaction. Like the myth of Echo and Narcissus, it is a cautionary tale, with moral implications. Even when not needed, the chairs combine into an assertive presence; perhaps especially when they are not needed, they form a large and intractable mass; and yet each one is capable of implying an individual human presence, a reminder that people are not mere echoes of one another, but are unrepeatable mixtures of thoughts, feelings and perceptions with unique histories of experience.
The megaphone, on the other hand, is not a guarantee of human presence, but is just as likely to represent human absence; if not disconnection, then remote connection to a source of dubious authority. The implied attitude of audience to speaker is one of passive reception rather than interaction. And the somewhat oversized dimensions of the megaphone are a strong hint to the imagination that the balance of power in the relationship is unequal. Barlow s combination of elements in this installation is very emphatic its silence is intended to be deafening. It challenges the artist never to take for granted the terms of transmission in contemporary art, and challenges the viewers, the imaginary audience, to act up whenever the signal threatens to fade out.
www.hauserwirth.com:
For almost 60 years, British artist Phyllida Barlow took inspiration from her surroundings to create imposing installations that can be at once menacing and playful. She created large-scale yet anti-monumental sculptures from inexpensive, low-grade materials such as cardboard, fabric, plywood, polystyrene, scrim, plaster and cement. These constructions were often painted in industrial or vibrant colors, the seams of their construction left at times visible, revealing the means of their making.
www.sculptureinthecity.org.uk:
Phyllida Barlow s sculpture untitled: megaphone, 2014, towers six metres high and stands to the viewer as to announce a performance that has yet to begin.
The sculpture resembles a tall megaphone. However, Barlow herself described it as an approximation or substitution for the actual object. As part of its making, the sculpture has been hacked and reinvented into a new form. A closer inspection reveals the materials, its texture, the colours, and the absence of technical functionality have left it with very little in common to a functioning megaphone. It interests me what sculpture is, its playing around with substitution, and where do those substitutions lead one? , Barlow noted. By being at first suggestive to reality while depriving a relation to a real object, sculpture acts as a trigger, stimulating the imagination of the viewer to new creative forms, to memories and undiscovered fantasies.
www.hauserwirth.com:
Phyllida Barlow intends her two Untitled works of 2014 to be shown together. One includes a large cone-like funnel resembling a megaphone, while the other consists of a large number of stacked chairs. The viewer of the sculptures is bound to imagine the emission of sounds that have long since ceased, and the rapt attentiveness of an audience that has long since departed. There seems to be more than an echo here of the myth of Echo and Narcissus that has often been used as the subject of artworks. The imposing megaphone that is angle-poised on its tall mast recalls the figure of Narcissus leaning over his pool, while the pile of redundant seating implies his neglect of his lover, Echo. In the myth, Narcissus rejection of the nymph Echo causes her to fade away until she dwindles to the function of a sounding board, echoing whatever he says. She is nothing more than an aural mirror the equivalent of a reflecting pool. The duplicate chairs of Barlow s assemblage are visual echoes of one another; moreover, they are folded flat and have lost both volume and function.
www.jesus.cam.ac.uk:
One is tempted to see this highly suggestive sculpture as an allegory of contemporary art, riskily asserting its value and importance regardless of audience reaction. Like the myth of Echo and Narcissus, it is a cautionary tale, with moral implications. Even when not needed, the chairs combine into an assertive presence; perhaps especially when they are not needed, they form a large and intractable mass; and yet each one is capable of implying an individual human presence, a reminder that people are not mere echoes of one another, but are unrepeatable mixtures of thoughts, feelings and perceptions with unique histories of experience. The megaphone, on the other hand, is not a guarantee of human presence, but is just as likely to represent human absence; if not disconnection, then remote connection to a source of dubious authority. The implied attitude of audience to speaker is one of passive reception rather than interaction. And the somewhat oversized dimensions of the megaphone are a strong hint to the imagination that the balance of power in the relationship is unequal. Barlow s combination of elements in this installation is very emphatic its silence is intended to be deafening. It challenges the artist never to take for granted the terms of transmission in contemporary art, and challenges the viewers, the imaginary audience, to act up whenever the signal threatens to fade out.
www.palatinate.org.uk:
In the Gran Bretagna pavilion, she created an extraordinary pathway of towering pillars made with ordinary materials such as timber, concrete & fabric. The concrete megaphone found inside of the pavilion is, in my eyes, the linchpin of the installation: the gritty, criss-crossed cement sculpture protrudes amongst the phallic shaped statues. It stands out as a concrete metaphor amongst the abstract forms that surround it, carrying the humane yet hushed voice that Barlow never failed to add in her installations.
www.hauserwirth.com:
For almost 60 years, British artist Phyllida Barlow took inspiration from her surroundings to create imposing installations that can be at once menacing and playful. She created large-scale yet anti-monumental sculptures from inexpensive, low-grade materials such as cardboard, fabric, plywood, polystyrene, scrim, plaster and cement. These constructions were often painted in industrial or vibrant colors, the seams of their construction left at times visible, revealing the means of their making.
www.wikipedia.org:
Dame Phyllida Barlow DBE RA (4 April 1944 12 March 2023) was a British visual artist. She studied at Chelsea College of Art (1960 1963) and the Slade School of Art (1963 1966). She joined the staff of the Slade in the late 1960s and taught there for more than forty years. She retired from academia in 2009 and in turn became an emerita professor of fine art.
She had an important influence on younger generations of artists; at the Slade her students included Rachel Whiteread and ngela de la Cruz. In 2017 she represented Great Britain at the Venice Biennale.