Panel 4 (Semi automatic machine self-portraits: Trumpf Trumatic edition)

Nicola Ellis (1987 - )

mild steel and powder coating

2018

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  • About the work
    Location
    Country: UK
    City: London
    Place: Department for International Trade, Old Admiralty Building

    This sculpture was made working closely with sheet steel manufacturers Ritherdon & Co Ltd based in Lancashire, where Manchester-based artist Nicola Ellis undertook a residency as an artist in placement. Working closely with experienced members of the Ritherdon team, Ellis has been observing, participating in, and at times, disrupting the ecosystem of the factory, relying on their knowledge and ability to operate machinery at the edge of its potential. 


    The Trumpf punch machine is usually programmed with very simple geometric templates for steel enclosures (metal boxes) made in a sheet metal design software called RADAN. Some of these templates have holes or vents punched out of them but usually no more complex shapes that are necessary for Ritherdon products. The artist's work disrupts that usual process of designing a product and programming the machine with a line drawing of that design. The starting point is actually a photograph of the machine itself, which is in no way simple and geometric like the design of a product


    This work is about the re-navigation of a standardised manufacturing process and therefore in the wider context of the factory, it is a disruption to the manufacturing processes. It is a testament to the artist's unique relationship with Ritherdon and a celebration of the machine operator's knowledge of the machinery's limitations and thresholds.



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    Subjects
    Materials & Techniques
    steel, mild steel, steel sculpture, powder coated
  • Details
    Artist
    Nicola Ellis (1987 - )
    Title
    Panel 4 (Semi automatic machine self-portraits: Trumpf Trumatic edition)
    Edition
    Number 2 of an edition of 3
    Date
    2018
    Medium
    mild steel and powder coating
    Dimensions
    height: 110.0 cm; width: 196.0 cm; depth: 0.3 cm
    Acquisition
    Purchased from Workplace, March 2022
    Provenance
    Workplace Gallery; from whom purchased by UK Government Art Collection, 31 March 2022
    GAC number
    19074