Great Britain

TIM ELLIS

Identity Art Gallery is proud to present Tim Ellis’s latest project: Something left but not forgotten (2014).

Man has a primordial desire to throw himself into belonging something greater, higher. Be it greater in terms of nature, extension and manifestation than man his own, or higher in terms of altitude, context or nobility than man’s mortal activities, to Tim Ellis, the production and consumption of art is the arena radiating this human desire.

Sometimes using found objects and sometimes distilling from pre-existing designs, Tim Ellis is fascinated by the exquisite, colour-changing flow of meaning and value across the cross-cultural dimension in art and craft objects. The art of staging is also one central element to the artist - it endows his works with a ready-made façade.

The latest sculpture by Tim Ellis Something left but not forgotten is in accord with Ellis’ artistic interest and ritual. He rarefies the form of an orrery, an ancient mechanical device that illustrates and predicts the relative positions and motions of the planets and the moon.

Inherited an orrery’s historical explanatory function as bridging the understanding between mankind and the universe, the sculpture invites contemporary audience to stand opposite to the universe’s abysmal intensity and fathomless force. Something left but not forgotten allows for philosophical mediation regarding the quintessence of a universal cyclical beginning-end from within.

text by Identity Art Gallery, Hong Kong