Rupert Herring: Turning the Inside Out

Opening in the Small Dog Gallery
Saturday 27 June 2 – 3.30pm

In the not-so-distant past, objects were used until they were worn out. If something was broken, it was repaired or re-purposed. How times have changed! In our disposable society, the ‘cult of the new’ has led to shorter and shorter product life cycles.

Rupert Herring utilises his skills as a cabinet maker to create a body of work that explores ideas of transformation and reorganisation within the realm of used objects; making something new from something old.

Individuality counts for little in the face of cost efficiency, and the artisans who once handcrafted our objects are becoming even rarer. Within this body of work, society’s cast-offs are reinvigorated with a new beauty and relevance. New life is breathed into discarded and reclaimed materials. The original use and form of these materials is challenged, and a tension is created between what they were and what they’ve become. In this transformation, the objects embody both the past and the present.

“A great amount of satisfaction is gained from making use of a material, extending its life, sometimes changing its purpose. In a world where choice is paramount, the limitation of using what is cheap, readily available and sustainable is liberating. Finding use where it is not necessarily obvious. A use, in the considered-useless.”