SWEET CONVERSATION

"In Limehouse, East London, there is a giant table and chair made from nearly a quarter of a million sugar cubes (lick it, but don't sit on it)" John Windsor, The Independent on Saturday 2/8/1997

Sweet Conversation, a collaborative piece with Sarah Buist, was made at Cable Street Studios for an installation in the Cable Street Gallery. The piece refers to the building’s former use as a sweet factory. It is located near the east end docks where sugar used to be transported into London.  The piece was later exhibited at the Gallery, Stoke Newington and the Whitechapel Gallery.

Press Release:

A quarter of a million sugar cubes were required to realise the piece.  Layer upon layer have been used to construct these enlarged commonplace objects. On entering the gallery the material appears to be a solid mass but on close inspection we notice the mosaic like quality of the tiny, glistening sugar cubes.

The proportions are overwhelming and there is an urge to clamber upon these objects which appear strong and solid but in reality are fragile and ephemeral. Destructive urges are aroused with the realisation that the piece, created over a long period of time, could dissolve and disappear in minutes.

Reviews

Don’t Scoff                The Independent on Saturday2/08/1997   

Bags of Sugar           D>Tour   August 1997

Sweet Inspiration       Impact, Tate and Lyle MagazineAutumn

Sweet Inspiration       Art Review   October 1997

Video: Who are your Art Parents?  Whitechapel Gallery