Alex Chinneck Replaces A Factory’s Windows With Identical Smashed Glass Panels To Create Something Beautiful
Alex Chinneck‘s ‘Telling The Truth Through False Teeth’ installation has taken the simple notion – that if a broken window isn’t fixed quickly others will soon follow thus leading to the inevitable, a derelict building – and turned it on its head.
He found an abandoned factory in Hackney, London and spent four months removing the 312 windows of the building. He then replaced them with identical reproductions of a smashed glass panel using 1,248 pieces of glass he found on site.
Here’s what he said about the project:
There is something mesmerizing about the way light catches a broken window pane, not only is the glass shattered but so is the reflection…this project always evolved with consideration to sculpture, architecture and engineering but ultimately I like the simple idea of performing a magic trick on such a scale.
I remember being struck by the power of Rachel Whiteread’s public art work, ‘House’ way back in 1993 – it was a cast of an abandoned Victorian terrace. This work has the same resonance. It deal withs urban decay, is an intervention, a simple idea executed well, is smart and will be destroyed, like ‘House’ was.
So if you’re in London between now and November – the date of its demise – take a trip to Hackney. The building is on the corner of Mare Street and Tudor Road, Hackney, E9 7FE.
Via Art Info
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