ON A KNIFE EDGE
Are we safe?
On A Knife Edge, 2014
Basalto marble
Unique work (set of 6)
H400 x Dia600cm
© Mark Humphrey
COLLABORATOR
Pietrasanta Cultural Institute
“ON A KNIFE EDGE COMPRISES SIX MARBLE COLUMNS ARRANGED IN A CIRCLE, RECALLING THE ANCIENT MONUMENTALITY OF STONEHENGE. SOLID, HEAVY AND SEEMINGLY IMMOVABLE, THE COLUMNS SUGGEST PERMANENCE, STABILITY AND THE BELIEF THAT SOME THINGS MAY ALWAYS ENDURE.
YET ONE COLUMN PRESENTS A RADICALLY DIFFERENT SURFACE – A POLISHED, ANGLED EDGE THAT CUTS THROUGH THE MARBLE LIKE A GIANT BLADE. THE FAMILIAR SOLIDITY OF THE MONOLITH IS INTERRUPTED BY THE SHARPNESS OF THE KNIFE-LIKE EDGE, INTRODUCING DANGER AND INSTABILITY INTO AN OTHERWISE REASSURING STRUCTURE.
THE WORK DRAWS ON THE IDIOM ‘ON A KNIFE EDGE’ – A STATE OF TENSION IN WHICH THE OUTCOME IS UNCERTAIN AND THE SMALLEST CHANGE CAN LEAD TO SUCCESS OR DISASTER. WHAT APPEARS PERMANENT AND SECURE CAN SUDDENLY SHIFT, BREAK OR COLLAPSE.
THE SIX COLUMNS BECOME A METAPHOR FOR PEOPLE, LIFE AND THE WORLD WE INHABIT: SEEMINGLY STRONG, YET ALWAYS VULNERABLE TO FORCES BEYOND OUR CONTROL. PERSONAL SUCCESS OR TRAGEDY, SUDDEN EVENTS OR NATURAL DISASTERS – ANYTHING CAN TRANSFORM OUR LIVES AND OUR SURROUNDINGS IN AN INSTANT.”
Mark Humphrey
