Waldella, Dundee

Printer-friendly version

David Batchelor
Born Dundee, 1955

Waldella, Dundee, 2009

200 plastic bottles, electrical flex, low energy lamps
Commissioned in 2009 through the National Collecting Scheme for Scotland
Supported by The Art Fund, The National Collecting Scheme for Scotland, The Henry Moore Foundation and Dundee Art Galleries and Museums Association
Museum number 2010-4

This new architectural space - the Central Circulation Core - is a contemporary reworking of this building's impressive Victorian Grand Stair. Where the architecture of the Grand Stair is complemented by stained glass panels, here the stained glass is replaced by a large light work made from recycled plastic bottles.

"The only colours that interested me were unnatural and artificial colours. Industrial colours, city colours: chemical, electrical, plastic, metallic, neon..."

The central concern of Batchelor's work is colour. His work takes many forms but the materials that he uses and the subject matter he explores are always rooted in the artificial and industrially manufactured world. Everything he uses is found - manufactured for some purpose other than art - and 'poor', being cheap or used up or industrial. The 'shiny' colourful materials are always contrasted by the mechanics of how the work is powered and supported - electrical flex, junction boxes and plugs. Both are of equal importance and both are transformed into sculptural objects of mesmerising beauty.