Soft Sculpture for Brougham Hall

Soft Sculpture for Brougham Hall, 2007, heat-sealed polyethylene, pumps, inner tubes, PVC, hose clamps, 9 x 5 x 2 feet / 2.7 x 1.5 x 0.6 m. Photo courtesy of Tony West Photography for FRED.

Soft Sculpture for Brougham Hall, 2007, heat-sealed polyethylene, pumps, inner tubes, PVC, hose clamps, 9 x 5 x 2 feet / 2.7 x 1.5 x 0.6 m. Photo courtesy of Tony West Photography for FRED.


The constantly-deflating sculpture of the word, great, becomes legible when participants use pumps to “breathe life” into the artwork.

Soft Sculpture for Brougham Hall is a text-based inflatable sculpture made of heat-sealed black plastic sheeting. Great expresses enthusiasm or sarcasm, analogized here with states of deflation/inflation. Great also suggest monumental art or the expectations of outdoor public scupture.

The sculpture was situated in Brougham Hall, in the north of England. The text appears in gothic, or “Old English” script, which originated from the use of reed pens and was adopted by Gutenberg in the 16th century, part of my interest in language as an evolving technology.

Caption: Christine Wong Yap, Soft Sculpture for Brougham Hall, 2007, heat-sealed polyethylene, pumps, inner tubes, PVC, hose clamps, 9 x 5 x 2 feet / 2.7 x 1.5 x 0.6 m. (Photos 1 & 2: Photo courtesy of Tony West Photography for FRED.)

Soft Sculpture for Brougham Hall was exhibited in FRED 2007, an art invasion across Cumbria (UK). Sincerest thanks Fold Gallery, Richard Webster, Brougham Hall and Mr. Christopher Terry.