Alex Seton’s Personal Monument series continues his explorations of classical statuary and public monuments, but does so in a way that shifts the established emphasis towards something more personal and private.
The artist’s Platform exhibition is comprised of four real, physical sculptures, and four others that exist in Augmented Reality. His work takes sculptural ideas that are often seen on a large scale and compresses them for individual consumption. He works with rough-hewn blocks of marble – in this case the Australian Wombeyan and Molong varieties – carving out partial appendages that protrude from different, textured surfaces. The resulting effect lands ambiguously between a figure trapped in the stone, and an animated stone-like figure.
Watch
Alex Seton - Platform from Unit London on Vimeo.
The fact that these works are reminiscent of public works of art, yet are built on a personal scale, allows Seton to create a more intimate narrative.
These kneeling, fragmentary figures resist the grand gestures of the historically powerful with their intimate humour and anthropomorphised boulders.
These figures are partly representative of the often overlooked and marginalised, who are rarely immortalised in the public square.
In the eternal stasis of disadvantage, stone emphasises and bears witness to their existence. Running parallel to this is the notion that these figures, suspended in the stone, are toying with the history of more traditional sculpture as well as more contemporary notions of figuration. They are examples of an artist not just engaging with his audience and contemporary society, but one who is doing so while examining the history of the medium in which he works.
Alex Seton
In Praise of Impulsiveness
2021
Alex Seton
At the Foot of the Plinth
2021
Alex Seton
The Listening Post
2021
Alex Seton
A Passive Monument (Letter to the Future)
2021
Alex Seton, At the Foot of the Plinth, 2021
Alex Seton, At the Foot of the Plinth, 2021
Alex Seton, At the Foot of the Plinth, 2021
In Praise of Impulsiveness
In Praise of Impulsiveness
In Praise of Impulsiveness
Alex Seton, The Listening Post, 2021
Alex Seton, The Listening Post, 2021
Alex Seton, A Passive Monument (Letter to the Future), 2021
Alex Seton, A Passive Monument (Letter to the Future), 2021
Alex Seton, A Passive Monument (Letter to the Future), 2021
Despite the aforementioned emphasis on the private, Seton likes the idea that his augmented reality works could find a home in public spaces too.
Whilst such spaces supposedly reflect our shared values, the art they house is often incongruous with the voice of the public now. The Augmented Reality features return the work to the people, allowing them to digitally place a statue wherever they choose, ultimately bridging the gap between public and private.
Physical Artworks
Alex Seton
A Question of Balance
2021
Alex Seton
Toppling the Monument
2021
Alex Seton
Looking Good, Feeling Good
2021
Alex Seton
A Classic Twist
2021
About the Artist
Alex Seton (b. 1977) works in sculpture, photography, video and installation, best known for his use of marble carving.
He uses the techniques and languages of classical statuary and monument throughout his practice – playing with, inverting and exaggerating them to create works that reflect on the contemporary world. Recent solo exhibitions include The Great Escape, Goulburn Regional Gallery (2020); Once There, Sullivan+Strumpf, Singapore (2019); Cargo, Sullivan+Strumpf, Sydney (2018); Alex Seton: The Island, Newcastle Art Gallery (2017); and Someone Else’s Problem, Sydney Contemporary, Carriageworks (2015). Group exhibitions include the regional touring show Safe Space (2018–21); Hope Dies Last, Art at the End of Optimism, Gertrude Contemporary (2019); Love, Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre (2019); All We Can’t See, Yellow House, Sydney (2018); and I Was Here, Fremantle Arts Centre (2017).
Chosen Charity
Chosen Charity
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Australia
The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre is a charity that provides food and material aid, healthcare, and other support services to those in need. It is an Australia-based institution that takes a holistic approach to empowering disadvantaged individuals, giving them the structural support they need to get their feet on the ground.