About the Artwork
Temple first draws the eye with a lustrous blaze of gold leaf. It has the creased and folded form of a simple paper bag, yet at architectural scale. The humble carrier of a million shopping trips, with their hopes and dreams and practicalities, seen blowing around our city streets, here fixed in place like a monument.
Gold has strong associations of currency and trade – the City’s day job – but the gilded surface also suggests a temple, shrine or votive object (it’s untarnished nature seen as a reference to the enduring perfection of the divine).
In this object, questions of belief and value weave with consumer culture and the human need to find meaning and to belong.
Year: 2023
Copyright Richard Mackness. Photo © Nick Turpin
Material
Glass reinforced concrete, Schlag gold leaf, automotive lacquer
Dimensions
260 x 160 x 135 cm