FALLEN SOLDIER
Are we still standing?
Fallen Soldier, 2016
Carbon steel, acrylic and paper poppies
Unique work (set of 7)
H170-250 x W150 x D150cm (each)
© Mark Humphrey
CLIENT
Canary Wharf Group
COLLABORATORS
Corps of Royal Engineers (British Army)
Ministry of Defence
Royal Engineers Museum
CHARITIES
The Royal British Legion
LOCATION
Canary Wharf Estate, Canary Wharf, London, UK
“FALLEN SOLDIER COMPRISES SEVEN ABSTRACT SOLDIER VESSELS, EACH CONTAINED WITHIN A WEAPON-LIKE STRUCTURE. STANDING IN SEQUENCE, THE FIGURES PROGRESSIVELY TILT, CREATING AN UNCERTAIN MOVEMENT BETWEEN FALLING AND RISING.
EACH VESSEL CONTAINS THE ROYAL BRITISH LEGION’S ‘POPPY APPEAL’ RED PAPER POPPIES, HELD WITHIN THE TRANSPARENT STRUCTURE LIKE BLOOD IN A TEST TUBE. AS THE FIGURES CHANGE POSITION, THE AMOUNT OF RED APPEARS TO INCREASE OR DIMINISH – SUGGESTING A SOLDIER LOSING BLOOD, OR REGAINING LIFE.
THE WORK PLAYS WITH THE IDEA OF THE ‘FALLEN SOLDIER’ – ARE WE WITNESSING COLLAPSE OR RECOVERY, DEFEAT OR RESILIENCE, DEATH OR SURVIVAL? THE POPPY BECOMES BOTH A SYMBOL OF REMEMBRANCE AND A MEASURE OF LIFE.”
Mark Humphrey
