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Prometheus

Print
2012 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Prometheus is a multi-media project inspired by the Charlie Warde’s abiding obsession with Erno Goldfinger’s icon of British post-war architecture, the Trellick Tower: ‘I love it, fear it, navigate by it and am inspired by it.’ 228 unique prints depicting the same view of the tower were made from two zinc etching plates in the idiom of architectural blueprints. The resulting images – that changed as the plates degraded – were made into a stop motion looped animation set to a soundtrack by James Torrance.

Ten prints were kept back for sale and the remainder were packaged with a statement from the artist and delivered in random order to each apartment in the tower: ‘One was given back by a rather confused lady who explained that her daughter was at the RA so she had no use for art, one thrown at me from out of a slamming door and one was not delivered as the flat was re-possessed. Another was eaten by a dog.’ Otherwise the prints were apparently well received.

Object details

Category
Object type
TitlePrometheus (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Etching on paper from zinc plate
Brief description
Charlie Warde (born 1974)
Prometheus
2012
Etching
Physical description
Rectangular print (landscape format). View of Trellick Tower in the style of a cyanotype or architectural blueprint, signed and numbered in pencil Charlie Warde 7/12, bottom right.
Dimensions
  • Height: 19.2cm (sheet)
  • Width: 24.8cm (sheet)
  • Height: 14cm (image)
  • Width: 20cm (image)
Content description
Trellick Tower
Summary
Prometheus is a multi-media project inspired by the Charlie Warde’s abiding obsession with Erno Goldfinger’s icon of British post-war architecture, the Trellick Tower: ‘I love it, fear it, navigate by it and am inspired by it.’ 228 unique prints depicting the same view of the tower were made from two zinc etching plates in the idiom of architectural blueprints. The resulting images – that changed as the plates degraded – were made into a stop motion looped animation set to a soundtrack by James Torrance.

Ten prints were kept back for sale and the remainder were packaged with a statement from the artist and delivered in random order to each apartment in the tower: ‘One was given back by a rather confused lady who explained that her daughter was at the RA so she had no use for art, one thrown at me from out of a slamming door and one was not delivered as the flat was re-possessed. Another was eaten by a dog.’ Otherwise the prints were apparently well received.
Collection
Accession number
E.369:1-2012

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Record createdAugust 20, 2012
Record URL
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