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Shack Stack

Commissioned by Future City as part of a forward thinking cultural strategy for the Grosvenor Waterside Development’s transformation of a derelict former industrial site into a new urban quarter, this permanent sculpture is based on the improvised architecture of the lowly garden sheds commonly found on British allotments. The sculpture is situated in the central square of the Grosvenor Waterside Development just north of Chelsea Bridge, in Pimlico, London, where the towering six metre tall artwork of piled-up garden sheds, sets up a unique juxtaposition with the surrounding contemporary architecture. The work continues Wilson’s research into how sculpture can reshape the urban environment and engage public attention by using familiar forms in an unexpected way with little regard to the original function of the individual components. However, in Wilson’s work, the architectural details are reused for new purposes and they stand as a metaphor for how the urban fabric epitomized by the Grosvenor Dock, once industrial, then derelict and now regenerated, undergoes continuous cycles of use, redundancy and renewal. Wilson’s research also highlights the significant role that contemporary public sculpture can play in such a renaissance to reanimate public space when conceived of as part of a major regeneration scheme. Cast in aluminium, the temporary nature of this shed architecture is wittily inverted as now permanent if precariously balanced. Physically and visually, the sculptures become an embodiment of weight as the impermanent is now rendered monumental and relocated as a crucial part of this urban regeneration scheme. See:http://www.richardwilsonsculptor.com/projects/shack%20stack.html

Shack Stack received extensive reviews including:

Cranes Today Magazine: http://www.cranestodaymagazine.com/news/a-shed-load/

Future City Blog: http://madeinfuturecity.wordpress.com/2010/04/09/62/

Thames & Hudson Blog: http://www.tandhblog.co.uk/2012/11/the-art-of-not-making-exhibition/