Work Scaffolding Sculpture

Ben Long’s evolving series of Scaffolding Sculptures examines the value of hard graft associated with manual employment and describes the process of work as a methodical, cumulative endeavour. In a direct reference to Robert Indiana’s iconic artwork Love, Work Scaffolding Sculpture re-assesses the idealistic spirit of the 1960s. Conceived for a time of financial and perhaps emotional austerity, Long’s sculpture serves to reflect life in a rapidly evolving 21st century metropolis. By utilising Indiana’s colour palette and typographic style, Long invites comparison between the two concepts, Love and Work, both essential aspects of daily existence and survival. Yet it is in the stylistic differences between Indiana’s voluptuous form and the skeletal complexity of Long’s riposte that the possible meanings of Work Scaffolding Sculpture may lie.

Year: 2013