



David Eustace
Always Present, 2022
100 Razor clam shells, acrylic, steel base
36.5 x 19 x 28.5 cm
Further images
Sir Antony Gormley’s ‘Another Place’ at Crosby Beach constantly inspires me. I have often sat for hours as the tide came in and the sun rose on a new dawn...
Sir Antony Gormley’s ‘Another Place’ at Crosby Beach constantly inspires me. I have often sat for hours as the tide came in and the sun rose on a new dawn …enjoying silent moments, considering, reflecting and hopeful.
This work exists in front of us even when it is little more than a perception of where it may be, always a constant, often unseen I find offers more questions than answers.
In response to Gormley’s 100 figures I collected 100 razor clam shells that shared the same beach and which are almost always ignored other than by birds and of course children.
The shells I wished to create into a form less fragile, less recognisable and so chose to grind the 100 shells into minuscule pieces that eventually became a singular solid form symbolising greater unity, an army of one.
When the tide is out we are witness to Gormley’s self modelled cast steel figures, these are ultimately only shells, representative of his thoughts and considerations, an extension of his hopes. Gormley’s 100 figures, though dispersed are therefore in essence a grouping of one mind.
The clam shells rarely allow us to see the content of their protective coat and indeed disappear deeper when the tide retracts and exposes them, secure in yet another world, a place we cannot comprehend.
Presented in a case of clear acrylic this singular block of 100 shells, whilst remaining, visible is unrecognisable, still beyond our touch, an outer shell within a man made shell, empty yet always present.
This work exists in front of us even when it is little more than a perception of where it may be, always a constant, often unseen I find offers more questions than answers.
In response to Gormley’s 100 figures I collected 100 razor clam shells that shared the same beach and which are almost always ignored other than by birds and of course children.
The shells I wished to create into a form less fragile, less recognisable and so chose to grind the 100 shells into minuscule pieces that eventually became a singular solid form symbolising greater unity, an army of one.
When the tide is out we are witness to Gormley’s self modelled cast steel figures, these are ultimately only shells, representative of his thoughts and considerations, an extension of his hopes. Gormley’s 100 figures, though dispersed are therefore in essence a grouping of one mind.
The clam shells rarely allow us to see the content of their protective coat and indeed disappear deeper when the tide retracts and exposes them, secure in yet another world, a place we cannot comprehend.
Presented in a case of clear acrylic this singular block of 100 shells, whilst remaining, visible is unrecognisable, still beyond our touch, an outer shell within a man made shell, empty yet always present.
Provenance
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