Power House
18 July – 15 September 1991
ICA Philadelphia, USA
2 April – 15 May 1993
Parthenon, Camden Arts Centre, London
June 1993
Parthenon, Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin
Parthenon, 1991, Wooden lockers, ceramic tiles, gauges, steel wire and cast iron
Double Bed, 1991, cast-iron bed frame, steel wire and glass laboratory instruments
Control Room, 1991, Steel, wood, lightbulbs, electrical apparatus
Control Room (detail), 1991
Heart Chair, 1991, Cast iron chair, cast bronze and steel wire
Log Books, 1991, 14 logbooks and cast wax
Log Books (detail), 1991
Slicer Beds, 1991, Cast-iron bed frame, cut black-iron steel sheet, electrical signal boxes and electrical apparatus [Foreground]
Body Gauges, 1991, Twelve photographs with paint in cast iron frames [Background left]
Moon Gauges, 1991, Eight photographs in cast iron frames [Background right]
Slicer Bed (detail), 1991
Moon Gauges, 1991, Eight photographs in cast iron frames
Goggles, 1995, Workman's goggles, transparencies and bulbs
Dresser, 1991, Wooden dresser, tools and sandblasted wine glasses
Passion Bed, 1990, Wire and sandblasted wine glasses
Screen / Ladies Changing Room, 1991, Wooden screen, bench, cast bronze hardhats, cord and hooks
Overlap, 1991, Black and white photograph, test tube, wire and fossilised sharks teeth
Much of the material in Power House was found in a derelict power station in Dublin bay which served as a studio for five years. Control panels, electricity gauges, cast-iron frames, cupboards and tools were extricated and rearranged combining the domestic with the industrial.
Parthenon was the central work, constructed from wooden locker doors with the residue of male occupancy evident. Images of religion and war: Mater Dolorosa, Goering and Goebbels, aeroplanes and chalk scribblings. Detritus that was left behind when workers moved to a new building. Parthenon mimicked classical architecture with stairs leading up to open doors, exposing an inner room with a wire bed, broken gauges and tiled floor. Parthenon references the Greek building and also the fact of parthenogenesis which is the possibility of procreating through a single sex. A single bed was suspended on the wall above. It was embedded with broken glass scientific- instruments held together by twisted wire forming a strange hermaphroditic tangle.
A curved set of panels from the powerhouse Control Room sat illuminated from below. Heart Chair: A small chair sat in the circle with a heavy bronze heart strung within seatless legs. Screen / Ladies Changing Room: A dusty-green painted screen had holes drilled through which one could see four hard hats hung on the wall. The hats were cast in bronze each with a nipple at the crown.
Slicer Beds: Two bed forms with lines of thin steel sheets held electrified gauges at their centre. The gauges read ‘discon-nection de-ecci-tation’ referencing electric current and control.
List of works (click to expand)
Passion Bed, 1990, Wire and sandblasted wine glasses, 157 x 170 x 54 cm
Double Bed, 1991, Cast-iron bed frame, steel wire and glass laboratory instruments, 203 x 193 x 76 cm
Slicer Beds, 1991, Cast-iron bed frame, cut black-iron steel sheet, electrical signal boxes and electrical apparatus, 91 x 188 x 76 cm
Dresser, 1991, Wooden dresser, tools and sandblasted wine glasses, 173 x 315 x 28 cm
Overlap, 1991, Black and white photograph, test tube, wire and fossilised sharks teeth, 41 x 33 x 8 cm
Log Books, 1991, 14 logbooks and cast wax, 32 x 20 x 5 cm (each)
Parthenon, 1991, Wooden lockers, ceramic tiles, gauges, steel wire and cast iron, 244 x 625 x 272 cm
Heart Chair, 1991, Cast iron chair, cast bronze and steel wire, 82 x 42 x 56 cm
Control Room, 1991, Steel, wood, lightbulbs, electrical apparatus, 104 x 90 x 86 cm (each)
Screen / Ladies Changing Room, 1991, Wooden screen, bench, cast bronze hardhats, cord and hooks, 198 x 213 x 122 cm
Body Gauges, 1991, Twelve photographs with paint in cast iron frames, 19 cm diameter (each), 183 cm diameter (overall)
Moon Gauges, 1991, Eight photographs in cast iron frames, 19 cm diameter (each), 121 cm diameter (overall)
Lighthouse, 1990, Photograph and wire, 76 x 106 x 19.5 cm
Moon Cage, 1990, Photograph and wire, 37 x 37 x 18 cm
Goggles, 1995, 6.5 x 9 x 6.5 cm, Workman's goggles, transparencies and bulbs