Susan Stockwell's World
Susan Stockwell’s new commission for Bedfordshire University has now been installed at their brand new £34 million Campus Centre
World, is a huge, wall-hung map. From a distance it looks like a traditional map, but as you get closer you can see that Stockwell has drawn in the land masses using collaged fragments of obsolete computer parts. The artist has long been interested in re-cycling, consumerism and globalisation, and World wittily highlights some of these themes. The sheer number of motherboards and microprocessors she’s used underlines just how much rubbish our high-tech society generates, with built-in obsolescence seemingly a standard practice for many manufacturers. World also questions how we use these redundant parts, contrasting the idea of a landfill stuffed with old machines with sensible, environmentally-friendly re-cycling processes. And finally, the piece is also, in a bizarre way, a celebration of technology, highlighting the fact that although these pieces are now technically rubbish, they still have a certain hidden beauty and use.
World was commissioned to mark the opening of Bedfordshire University’s Campus Centre and will be displayed in the foyer of the new building. Sculptor Cedric Christie has been commissioned to make a sculpture to go outside the building as part of the same process (both projects were overseen by Commissions East).
www.susanstockwell.co.uk
