Tom Dale, Department of the Interior, Black Leatherette inflatable castle and fan. 600 x 550 x 500 cm
Tom Dale, Exit Strategy, Copper tube & fitting, 80 x 80 x 3 cm
Tom Dale, Blind Heat, Conti board, faux fur, glass. 82 x 62 x 20 cm
Tom Dale, I Cave, plastic, expanding foam, steel sphere. 90 x 90 x 90cm
Tom Dale, I Cave, plastic, expanding foam, steel sphere. 90 x 90 x 90cm
|
Presented in London for the first time, ‘Department of the Interior’ is a 6.5m high black leatherette bouncy castle that echoes the towers and crenellations of Parliament with an absurdity that mocks its claim for authority.
Shown alongside new and previously unseen work, It is a sculpture that is simultaneously seductive and repulsive; its form and the space within no longer the preserve of inclusive childish pleasures. They speak instead of adult power games and BDSM practices that are normally played out in spaces concealed from public view. In spite of the castle’s tactile allure, visitors are strictly forbidden to enter and bounce, forcing them instead to imagine who or what might have that privilege and why. Like Franz Kafka’s character ‘K’ - attempting to enter a fictional castle only to be thwarted by invisible and inexplicable governance - ‘Department of the Interior’ exemplifies the frustration and futility that governance and bureaucracy often pose at an individual and collective level. The identity of the individual in relation to the collective facelessness of power is drawn out in the accompanying sculptures 'I-Cave' and 'Blind Heat', where an initial invitation to participate gives way to a sense of exclusion. The theme of deferred gratification - a promise unfulfilled - runs throughout Dale's work. While ‘Department of the Interior’ functions on the disappointment of not being allowed to fully interact with it, his most recent work 'Exit Strategy' considers conversely how we gain a sense of control over our inclusion in and exclusion from the many social or informational networks that claim to represent us. Click here to see the artist CV. |