Louise Gibson
Atrophy 'The Shark', 2025
2 steel baths, bacteria dyed cotton (Serratia marcescens) scaffolding mesh, resin and lacquer
Work 1: 75 x 117 x 39 cm
Work 2: 113 x 102 x 88 cm
Work 2: 113 x 102 x 88 cm
Own Art
As low as 10 interest-free monthly payments of £250 and £7000.00 deposit.
Further images
Changing Ideas Award 'Atrophy the Shark' is one of five sculptures that make up a body of work titled ‘Beachheads’. Crafted from the detritus of late capitalism, salvaged by the...
Changing Ideas Award
"Atrophy the Shark" is one of five sculptures that make up a body of work titled ‘Beachheads’. Crafted from the detritus of late capitalism, salvaged by the artist from junkyards and textile banks the halfway houses on the road to landfill. The fabric was dyed in a lab by the bacteria ‘Serratia marcescens’, a pink-pigmented bacterium that thrives in damp, humid household areas. It was then sterilised for use.
‘Bacteria, the oldest and most successful organism on earth
created oxygen
so we might destroy it’
Excerpt from a poem ‘Bacteria’ , Beachheads 2025 Jenny Fagen.
At first glance, they appear to operate as dualities: hard, mass-produced objects fused with soft materials—formal sculpture that explores contingent binaries - industrial versus organic, manufactured versus handmade, and strength versus fragility. However beneath the surface of these sculptures beats an apocalyptic heart of darkness.
Crushed and twisted manufactured goods of cheap steel and industrial plastics - formed and then subsequently mutilated by the invisible forces of capitalist consumption, are held aloft on structures of tastefully lacquered, matte steel box section. These impaled forms, their original purposes distorted yet still discernible, erupt with epidermal outgrowths. They are situational, fluid—shaped by context and perception rather than intrinsic qualities. These objects are bodies that carry with them their histories and trauma of their existence. They bear witness to the record of their experience, displaying their scars on their corrupted forms. For them there is no hope of a sustainable future, only decline and dissolution. They act as totems of the everyday acts of unsustainable consumption to which we are all complicit.
This work does not lecture the viewer. It is both renewable and unviable. Beautiful, expressive and human - nevertheless it is tragic, violent and artificial. It is sculpture that tells the truth and evokes the contemplation necessary for change.
Text by Louise Gibson and Dan Brown Head of Exhibitions DCA
"Atrophy the Shark" is one of five sculptures that make up a body of work titled ‘Beachheads’. Crafted from the detritus of late capitalism, salvaged by the artist from junkyards and textile banks the halfway houses on the road to landfill. The fabric was dyed in a lab by the bacteria ‘Serratia marcescens’, a pink-pigmented bacterium that thrives in damp, humid household areas. It was then sterilised for use.
‘Bacteria, the oldest and most successful organism on earth
created oxygen
so we might destroy it’
Excerpt from a poem ‘Bacteria’ , Beachheads 2025 Jenny Fagen.
At first glance, they appear to operate as dualities: hard, mass-produced objects fused with soft materials—formal sculpture that explores contingent binaries - industrial versus organic, manufactured versus handmade, and strength versus fragility. However beneath the surface of these sculptures beats an apocalyptic heart of darkness.
Crushed and twisted manufactured goods of cheap steel and industrial plastics - formed and then subsequently mutilated by the invisible forces of capitalist consumption, are held aloft on structures of tastefully lacquered, matte steel box section. These impaled forms, their original purposes distorted yet still discernible, erupt with epidermal outgrowths. They are situational, fluid—shaped by context and perception rather than intrinsic qualities. These objects are bodies that carry with them their histories and trauma of their existence. They bear witness to the record of their experience, displaying their scars on their corrupted forms. For them there is no hope of a sustainable future, only decline and dissolution. They act as totems of the everyday acts of unsustainable consumption to which we are all complicit.
This work does not lecture the viewer. It is both renewable and unviable. Beautiful, expressive and human - nevertheless it is tragic, violent and artificial. It is sculpture that tells the truth and evokes the contemplation necessary for change.
Text by Louise Gibson and Dan Brown Head of Exhibitions DCA
Join our mailing list
Join our email list to be the first to hear about RSA exhibitions, events and opportunities.
* denotes required fields
We will process the personal data you have supplied in accordance with our privacy policy (available on request). You can unsubscribe or change your preferences at any time by clicking the link in our emails.