WILLIAM CRUICKSHANK 'Combine'

About

Hovering (and the word conveys the delicacy of the experiment) between the realms of art/design/and pure invention, William Cruickshank's work often proposes two simultaneous modes of interrogation. If it's art, does it matter if it also functions? If it functions, can it be art too? When is a chair not a chair? (and true to the lyricism of Cruickshank's work, the question could come back immediately in song.... 'even if there's no-one sitting there?'). Cruickshank gracefully morphs household or farmyard furniture, resiting it in a domestic - or gallery - space. After the double-take when we see two seaside deckchairs turned into a bench for three, we're prompted to wonder: who is the extra seat for? A solitary activity is turned into a communal one. Communion in fact is the key to these subtle works. Practical, witty, and decorative. This sculpture is not only stackable; flattened, hung on the wall it offers the deftest possible critique of Hard-Edge Abstraction.