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Bendict Carpenter's 'Pod' is launched at Oakham School, Rutland
19 May 2009
On the 25th April 2009 the newest commission for the Jerwood Sculpture by Benedict Carpenter was unveiled alongside the opening of the Foundation's latest capital building project, the Jerwood School of Design at Oakham School, Rutland.
The piece, entitled Pod, was commissioned specifically for the triangular courtyard outside the Jerwood School of Design. Benedict was the first ever winner of the prestigious Jerwood Sculpture Prize in 2001.
Pod stands at 2m high and has been constructed from several hundred short lengths of mild steel, welded together to form an open net-like structure, which stands at head height on an integrated mild steel support. "The form is intentionally reminiscent of a bird or insect nest as much as a net, although it also has strong mammalian connotations in its shape, looking a bit like a camel or a whale," comments Benedict Carpenter of the piece. "The name Pod is chosen as a key to the sculpture's imagery. A pod can be variously: a seedpod; a protective covering for the eggs of insects or fish; a detachable compartment on a spacecraft for carrying personnel or instrumentation; a school of marine mammals. Most of these meanings denote a form with a defined internal space and, in the case of this sculpture, the specatator is able to see a clear space inside the form, making its interior as important as the descition of an external skin."
The Jerwood Foundation is delighted that the work now becomes part of its growing collection of work by young British artists.