Wirbelsäule

Looming over three metres in height, Wirbelsäule (1997) is a magnificent large-scale sculpture in Tony Cragg’s unmistakable biomorphic style. A dynamic assembly of smooth, disc-shaped and spheroid forms whirl together, creating a tall structure reminiscent of stacked, weather-worn stones as much as the spinal column from which the work takes its name. The sculpture’s rich, honeyed hue – shot through with warm veins of brown – heightens its impression of organic or stony origin. In fact, the sculpture is made of sanded fibreglass: almost weightless by comparison, and decidedly man-made. Cragg’s practice began in the 1970s, and his early works were heavily influenced by the earthy sensibilities of land art and Arte Povera. Over the following decades, however, his formal vocabulary evolved to embrace unorthodox materials such as fibreglass, finding in them the potential for new, unknown shapes and ideas. As he explained, ‘the objects of our industrial society as yet have very little information attached to them, so even if something like plastic has been accepted as a valid material for use in art, it still remains relatively unoccupied. It would be a lot of work to actually give poetic meaning or to make a mythology for this material, over and above its extremely practical and utilitarian value’ (T. Cragg, quoted in P. Elliott, Tony Cragg: Sculptures and Drawings, Hew Haven 2011, p. 109). Wirbelsäule sees Cragg engaging in exactly that work: the sculpture’s energetic, unequal distribution of weight would have been physically impossible with heavy marble or bronze, and Cragg exploits the lightness of fibreglass to unlock a form that previously could only have been imagined. In Wirbelsäule’s rich, sensual presence, Cragg engages with his non-traditional medium to open up a new world of artistic possibility.