
Caro Pattle
Soft Pipes, play on, 2023
Textile, galvanised steel
120 x 50 x 50 cm
Copyright The Artist
'Soft Pipes, play on' reimagines a prehistoric stone-hewn vessel in lush blue velvet. Created using a time-intensive process of knotting velvet to create a dense organic surface, the vessel combines...
'Soft Pipes, play on' reimagines a prehistoric stone-hewn vessel in lush blue velvet. Created using a time-intensive process of knotting velvet to create a dense organic surface, the vessel combines a historic form with a contemporary material, divesting the object of its original function. The title of the work is derived from the English Romantic poet John Keats' 1819 poem 'Ode on a Grecian urn.' While the original poem refers to musical pipes in a scene painted onto the surface of a Grecian vessel, Pattle recontextualises the line to describe the material properties of her vessel. Pattle's vessel playfully muddles culture and material within the framework of an anthropogenic material culture.