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Rachel Bungey
What Remains 1 and 2, 2023
Mulberry wood and Spalted Beech wood
44 x 17.5 x 12 cm and 33 x 16 x 17.5 cm
These sculptures integrate a 7-axis robot arm and traditional craftsmanship to produce sculpture. The sculptures were carved on a 7-axis robot arm using 3d scans of logs of wood then sculpted by hand, leaving details of the robot arm touch, preserving the connection between artist and machine. The spalted wood, originally collected in Sheffield and dried for over 12 years, bears witness to the captivating stories of fungal colonization. The fungi, extracting nutrients from the wood, leave distinctive and unique marks.
Bones are the fundamental framework upon which our bodies are built, exemplifying both fragility and resilience. Homing our organs and allowing us to move, tender and delicate yet sturdy and unyielding, our bones are our most important architecture, our structure, our core. Long after we depart they endure, connecting us to the animal kingdom and our ancestral lineage. In their fossilised state, bones become storytellers of the past, allowing us to unravel the narratives of our human and non-human predecessors. Through the study of skeletal structures, we gain a visual representation of the direct mimicry found within living organisms, exposing the magnificence of organic design.
These sculptures integrate a 7-axis robot arm and traditional craftsmanship to produce sculpture. The sculptures were carved on a 7-axis robot arm using 3d scans of logs of wood then sculpted by hand, leaving details of the robot arm touch, preserving the connection between artist and machine. The spalted wood, originally collected in Sheffield and dried for over 12 years, bears witness to the captivating stories of fungal colonization. The fungi, extracting nutrients from the wood, leave distinctive and unique marks.
Bones are the fundamental framework upon which our bodies are built, exemplifying both fragility and resilience. Homing our organs and allowing us to move, tender and delicate yet sturdy and unyielding, our bones are our most important architecture, our structure, our core. Long after we depart they endure, connecting us to the animal kingdom and our ancestral lineage. In their fossilised state, bones become storytellers of the past, allowing us to unravel the narratives of our human and non-human predecessors. Through the study of skeletal structures, we gain a visual representation of the direct mimicry found within living organisms, exposing the magnificence of organic design.