Jack Eden (b.1989, UK) is an artist translating our understanding of materiality into the language of sculpture. Often shaped by mathematical principles including the golden ratio or Euclidean geometry, Eden's sculptures focus on basic form to enhance the aesthetic, physical, and conceptual possibilities of materials. Eden studied at Plymouth School of Art (2009) and graduated from Oxford Brookes University with a First Class Honors degree in Fine Art (2012). He now lives and works in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
How Tall is Goethe (2017-21) - Responding to the painting Goethe in the Roman Campagne, this sculpture explores the problem of objectively documenting human stature. Corrupted by perception, ego, idolatry, celebrity and masculinity, it would have been impossible (even in 1787) to create an accurate image of the famous German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Using the dimensions of an ancient obelisk in Rome, this plasterboard monument precisely measures Goethe's commonly perceived height – 166 cm. Bisected with a scissor jack used for elevating heavy objects, the possibility of increasing and decreasing scale remains ever-present but problematic. As the sculpture becomes taller, its proportions become distorted – similar to the way Johann Heinrich Wilhem Tischbein painted Goethe with two left feet and awkwardly twisted hips.
Platonic solids photo series (2021) - These photographic prints depict the Plasterboard Maquettes for the Five Platonic Solids, a series of 'plaster casts' of the polyhedra thought by Plato to be the elemental building blocks of our universe. This experimental plasterboard sculpture series was then photographed against the chalkboards used to calculate their construction. The sculptures and photo series alike draw the absolute into the indefinite, depicting forms of theoretical perfection hewn in imperfect reality. Each digital photograph is inkjet printed onto 50 x 50 cm archival paper and signed in a limited edition of 50, available to buy from Jack Eden Art.
Plasterboard Maquettes for the Five Platonic Solids (2020) - Thought by Plato to be the elemental building blocks of our universe, the Platonic solids are a series of five three-dimensional shapes defined by unalterable mathematical relationships. Created in the first coronavirus lockdown of 2020, these sculptures illustrate the stability that mathematics represents in the face of precarious and mercurial notions of time, life, and work. Despite shifting realities, the Platonic solids remain constant, unchangeable, and irrefutable. Expressing both solidity and fragility, each 'plaster cast' was created from commercial plasterboard – a more literal building block in the contemporary world.
Plaster Casts (2017-present) - This ongoing project is a reaction to the resurgent popularity of marble as a contemporary sculptural material. The accessibility of antique marble statuary increased with comparably cheap replicas cast in plaster, and this series likewise began by translating contemporary sculptures in sheet marble into 'casts' made of plasterboard. This photograph shows a reworking of a sculpture by Kaspar Bosmans, itself inspired by Paul Thek. Bosmans' original work is a small, boxy sculpture of mitred marble slabs with a drawing of a fox on the sides and six eggs projecting from the top. Its playfully irreverent transliteration into pink plasterboard (with projecting cucumbers) negates any intrinsic material value, creating a new and unique sculptural object.
Phi (2017) - Created for a charity exhibition of A5-sized works, this sculpture is a translation of theoretical mathematics into physical form. The Greek letter Φ – transliterated as phi – symbolises the golden section, the ratio of 1:6180 that creates visual harmony throughout art and nature. This mathematical principle creates a series of tessellating squares that catalog four of the key materials from the last four years of sculptural practice – chipboard, plasterboard, plywood, and cement. This artwork was part of the One Size Fits All charity exhibition organized by Arts at the Old Fire Station, Oxford, 2017. For this show, artists were invited to exhibit and sell an A5 artwork to fund collaborations with the arts centre and Crisis, its partner charity working with homeless and vulnerably housed adults.
Two By Two Twice (2015-16) - This studio project utilized and consolidated scrap wood left over from the HUE sculpture series, part of the last exhibition before the artist relocated from Oxford, UK to Rotterdam, the Netherlands in March 2016. These objects were progressively reconfigured and photographed before being cut down again and again to form new constellations until all that remained was dust and documentation. More information on the HUE sculptures and other projects undertaken before relocating to the Netherlands can be found at www.jackedenart.co.uk
