The Childhood Cube
Sculpture
1998-1999 (made)
1998-1999 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
A steel and glass cube cubic grid, six squares wide by six high and six deep, consisting of 216 rooms resembling small theatrical models. Each of these was furnished with inventions, characters and actions by the artist and her collaborators, using mixed materials. Each set is installed on a base and sometimes a backdrop made out of Perspex carefully painted with different colourful patterns. Some of the scenes are connected by balsa wood ladders that project across different levels within the cube, like game of snakes and ladders. Some of the figures sit outside the Perspex, on the steel structure.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 127 parts. (Some alternative part names are also shown below)
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| Title | The Childhood Cube (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Steel, glass, acrylic and other mixed-media |
| Brief description | A steel and glass cube divided into 216 cubes with room settings, a community project with the Artist Sarah Raphael and several schools. |
| Physical description | A steel and glass cube cubic grid, six squares wide by six high and six deep, consisting of 216 rooms resembling small theatrical models. Each of these was furnished with inventions, characters and actions by the artist and her collaborators, using mixed materials. Each set is installed on a base and sometimes a backdrop made out of Perspex carefully painted with different colourful patterns. Some of the scenes are connected by balsa wood ladders that project across different levels within the cube, like game of snakes and ladders. Some of the figures sit outside the Perspex, on the steel structure. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Unique |
| Credit line | Purchased for the museum by the Robert Gavron Charitable Trust |
| Object history | Through 1998-1999, Sarah Raphael worked with more than sixty schoolchildren from at least three London schools, including Newton Preparatory School, Battersea and The Moat School, Fulham to make this sculpture. It was commissioned for display at the Millennium Dome as part of the Millennium Experience (2000-2001) and was positioned near to the ventilation shaft for the Blackwall Tunnel. Ian Scott, the lighting designer, worked with the artist to create a design for the fibre-optics. It was one of Raphael's last pieces before her death. It was displayed at Marlborough Fine Art in London (July 10th-August 8th 2003) immediately before it was purchased for the museum by the Robert Gavron Charitable Trust. [RF: 2003/1016] |
| Historical context | Sarah Raphael (1960-2001) was an important modern painter, who painted mainly in the abstract but was well known for her portraits and book illustrations. She studied art at the Camberwell School of Art in London (1978 - 1981). The Childhood Cube was the artist's first publicly-displayed sculpture. |
| Production | Commissioned by the New Millennium Experience and exhibited at the Millennium Dome (2000-2001) |
| Subject depicted | |
| Association | |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | B.25:1 to 122-2003 |
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| Record created | June 8, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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