A commission from the Contemporary Arts Society and the European Ceramics Workcentre led artist David Rickard to drop 1200 kilos of clay from the sky.
The outcome is Test Flights, an installation comprising three 400 kg sculptures that appear to have been dropped from the Economist Plaza towers from different heights, and now resemble exploding macaroons on the ground. So what provoked this free fall? We spoke to David after last week's unveiling.
Each tower in the plaza is a different height - 4, 8 and 16 stories. When people are in the space they tend to only look up maybe 1 or 2 stories so I wanted to draw attention to the difference in scale between the towers. After looking at materials I was surprised that clay, such a traditional material, did everything I needed it to, especially as I started by looking at thermoplastics. The constancy of gravity made me want to present and reveal it in simple way.
It's an impactful piece. Just don't try to make one at home.
Test Flights at the The Economist Plaza, 25 St James's Street until 12 March.
By Rachel Borchard. Images by Manolo Verga