Untitled (Artist’s Impression of Eternity Chamber)

Charles Avery (1973 - )

Pencil, ink, gouache and pen on paper

2007

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  • About the work
    Location
    Country: UK
    City: London
    Place: Scotland Office, Dover House, Whitehall
    The subject of this enigmatic drawing by Charles Avery is a hexagonal prism, designed as a chamber for people to climb into so that they can experience eternity. It sparks much curiosity from the small group of people gathered around it. As Avery describes: 

    The floor and ceiling are tessellated with equilateral triangular glass tiles of different colours, that repeat their design into eternity being reflected in each internal facet of the chamber by back painted glass derived of the finest kelp. 

    The drawing also exists as a ‘maquette’ (a study for a larger work), and both are related to the Palace of the Gulls, part of Avery’s ongoing major work, The Islanders. Avery embarked upon this epic project in 2005, intending to describe the topology of an imaginary island. What could be a lifelong task, he aims to detail every aspect of the island, from its flora to its philosophical belief systems. The project will culminate in the production of several leather-bound volumes of an encyclopedia.

    In the make-believe world, a cult evolved on the island after a talking seagull passed on the secret of eternity to a madman. To determine whether there is any truth in the idea, cult followers enter the eternity chamber. Avery describes the effect of this on the islanders: 

    … the subject emerges in a trance-like state, insensible to everything around them, yet with eyes wide open staring into the near distance. Yet I fear this is a very different madness from that of the man, for whereas he seems able to successfully navigate himself through the physical world, his imitators do not and within days walk into some fatal situation, either off a cliff or drowning in a bog. 

    When drawing groups of figures, Avery starts from one area of the body, often a nose, and works outwards until a character is revealed. Each subsequent figure materializes in relation to the previous one until a narrative emerges. Avery sees drawing as important in its own right, using it to encourage public interaction. As he explains:
     
    Drawing puts much more trust in the viewer. Drawing is a form of writing, it’s a telling medium and people get involved in it.

    Avery works across a range of media –drawings, models, diagrams and text. The fourth and most recent installation of The Islanders was The People and Things of Onomatopoeia: Part 2 at Pilar Corrias in London, 2017. This exhibition combined drawings along with items of jewellery, furniture, posters and other decorative items.
  • About the artist
    Charles Avery was born in Oban, Scotland and his 'Islanders' project was inspired by his childhood on the Inner Hebrides. 'The Islanders: an introduction' was exhibited in Edinburgh in 2005; with Part II in Turin in 2006; Part III in Geneva in 2007; and Part IV in London, 2017. In 2007, Avery was included in the Scottish Pavilion of the 52nd Venice Biennale; the Triennale Bovisa TIMER, Milan; the Athens Biennial, and the Biennale de Lyon. Recent solo exhibitions of new work from The Islanders project include shows in London at Pilar Corrias (2017, 2013, 2011) and at Parasol Unit (2008). In 2012, his work was shown at the Grimm Gallery, Amsterdam. Avery has also contributed work to group exhibitions in Orkney, Melbourne, Jerusalem, Hanover and Paris.
  • Explore
    Places
    Subjects
    conceptual art, geometry, bird, man, woman, elderly man, 21st century costume, lamp, eternity
    Materials & Techniques
    paper (as artists material), gouache (as artists material), pencil, ink, mixed media (art object), drawing (Art object type)
  • Details
    Artist
    Charles Avery (1973 - )
    Title
    Untitled (Artist’s Impression of Eternity Chamber)
    Date
    2007
    Medium
    Pencil, ink, gouache and pen on paper
    Dimensions
    height: 140.00 cm, width: 100.00 cm
    Acquisition
    Purchased from Galleria Sonia Rosso, October 2007
    Inscription
    bl: DESIGN FOR ETERNITY CHAMBER FOR THE PALACE OF THE GULLS. / Commissioned for the LYON BIENNALE, 2007 / Charles Avery 2007.
    Provenance
    Galleria Sonia Rosso, Frieze Art Fair, London
    GAC number
    18147