sarah bennett |
materiality: provisional states
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The work was exhibited in November 2018-February 2019 alongside new artworks by artists Megan Calver and Philippa Lawrence, and curated by Tim Martin. |
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Pear Pond I and II Silver, with its reflective quality, emerged as a significant material early on - mirroring the 'pull of the eye' - i.e. the shift of focus from reflection to surface to depth when staring into Bampfylde's eighteenth-century pear pond. Drawing on glass with liquid silver nitrate provided the means to photographically capture multiple reflections in Pear Pond I and II. |
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Cultivar A similar mirroring quality is apparent in the watercourses of the East and West Rill, with Gertrude Jekyll’s 'silvery' plantings amongst Lutyens' symmetrical stonework being viewed to best effect from the gallery windows overlooking the garden where Cultivar was installed. Seeds from Jekyll's plants were drawn (using a microscope) in silverpoint, and viewed as 35mm slides in handheld viewfinders. Silverpoint renders the seed as both image and substance, with the silver gradually tarnishing, whilst the act of drawing and detailed precision encapsulates each seed’s potential to flourish in the museal garden below. |
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| Service is no inheritance Floral patterns abound in the decorative needle-points adorning the amassed footstools in 'service is no inheritance', referring to a well-worn saying amongst household servants. The 15 footstools, without their accompanying chairs, appear as a somewhat futile assembly, with their unruly stitches and reverse side workings exposed, mimicking the assorted furnishings that so frequently inhabit former stately homes. |
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| Seolfur In Seolfur - old English for silver - the cutting edges of discarded gardening tools are embellished in silver plating, recalling the constant maintenance of the estate. With the wooden shafts removed, the polished silver contrasts enigmatically with the sullied and patinated steel or iron surface of each hoe. |
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| Island Gracing Hestercombe, with its privileged past and current heritage obligations, prompts questions about dominant narratives. The recent discovery of a former Elizabethan Water Garden at Hestercombe, and subsequent research into such historical fantasies, led to the production of Island Gracing, a short video that obliquely addresses the question of authenticity, heritage and climate change. |
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Island Gracing (2018)
(complete video)