Output details

Brickworks. An extended body of 8 sculptures made from a single, large set of miniature, hand-made fired clay bricks, each 4cm x 2m x 1cm. Most of the works are conceived as ephemeral pieces, built on-site and broken up after exhibition, the bricks salvaged and re-used in new works. Two works, Jug and Chimney have reached a final ‘resolved’ form and are now permanently sited in London and Aarhus. As such, the separate sculptures link together over time as a family of pieces, formed from the same physical material and containing residual evidence of their former states. Most sculptures take the form of simple architectural structures such as stells (sheepfolds), buttresses or chimneys.

Developed over five years, and disseminated through exhibitions, publications and presentations, Brickworks continues Burton’s practice-based research into the use of brick in contemporary sculpture and into relationships between sculpture, ceramics and architecture. The sculptures were shown in various contexts, including site-specific solo shows and group exhibitions, many involving artists working with brick. Brickworks explores issues concerning: processes of making (and unmaking); re-use of materials; ephemerality (versus ‘permanence’); site and context, which contribute to readings of the artworks.

Initially conceived in response to EKWC’s project ‘Ceramics and Architecture’, the project was developed between 2008 - 2013. A large body of miniature, handmade clay bricks (using different clay bodies) was used to create sculptures based on simple architectural forms. Works were made either in the studio or on-site in the exhibition venue. After exhibition, the sculptures were often broken up, the component parts reused to make new works, which in turn were exhibited, and then destroyed. Over time, cement, glaze or paint used to bond the sculptures together became accreted to the bricks’ surfaces, forming a palimpsest–like patina, suggesting residual ‘memories’ of earlier works.

Burton explored how contexts in which the work was shown might emphasise different visual or conceptual readings: e.g. at Canary Wharf the sculptures’ irregular modular quality counterpoised parallels – and contrasts – in the structure of the surrounding architecture; at the RBS and in Stoke, ‘Jug’ was exhibited against the background of Victorian brick architecture, and then in the context of demolition sites - the ‘brick fields’ of a ‘post-industrial’ landscape; ‘Tholos’ was made in the old Maling ceramics works in Newcastle. To encourage engagement with the work through tactile as well as visual encounters, audiences have been involved making and unmaking the work. Brickworks has been widely presented and critiqued through lectures, conferences and publications.

Developing ‘Brickworks’ occupied a substantial part of Burton’s research activity between January 2008 and June 2013 with outputs disseminated throughout this period. These include 11 large-scale sculptures exhibited in 11 venues. Images have been included in 10 publications.

Whilst subgroups of the overall body of sculptures created – or individual exhibitions – might have been submitted as separate outcomes, to be fully evaluated the research should be scrutinised as it has been conceived: as a family of intimately related sculptures that by their nature exist sequentially in time, not simultaneously, many literally sharing the same physical material as their predecessors.