Jackie McNamee - SCOTLAND - sculptor - Nov 2006

7. JACKIE McNAMEE – sculptor – SCOTLAND UK
23 October – 21 November 2006
Sculptor sees hidden risks in modern living
By MICHAEL LOWE, Tuesday, 31 October 2006
An art exhibition newly opened at Inveresk could carry
a health warning label.
Small Dangers has been produced by visiting sculptor
Jackie McNamee, originally from Belfast, and tells how
everyday objects carry a hidden cost.
The 31 wooden sculptures of everyday objects -
including mobile phones and televisions - all emit
electromagnetic radiation.
Each piece includes a reading relating the object's
output compared to the daily allowable level.
Other sculptures relate road deaths to jumbo jets,
chemicals in foods and the difficulties posed to
pigeons caused by "electronic smog".
McNamee said yesterday that the exhibition did not
carry a message, because she did not like didactic art,
but she objected to the hidden risks of modern living.
"They are gorgeous looking objects but I am terrified by all these things," she
said.
"They are good for business but not really good for us.
"I just think it is something we need to be concerned about."
She is visiting Tasmania for seven weeks, including a month in Launceston, on an
Arts Tasmania international natural and cultural residency. She will give a
sculpture workshop but the date is not set.
She is based at the Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop in Scotland.
- MICHAEL LOWE
SMALL DANGERS: Sculptor
Jackie McNamee with some of
her pieces. Picture: BEN VOS