Charles Hadcock

Description

Caesura: a pause near the middle of a line, or a break between words within a metrical foot, specifically in Greek and Latin poetry. Caesura for Charles Hadcock is a series of sculptures in which he explores and celebrates fragmentation, mathematics, multiplicity and the impossible. In Caesura IV the two fragments of a single sphere are turned against each other, making it impossible for the globe to be completed. It seems that if the eye were to carry the ascending curves to their conclusion, they would first form an arch, and then complete their circle under the earth. Furthermore, the blocks which form Caesura IV are all identical, apart from those at the edges where there are no bolt holes. Their placement suggests that they would complete a globe, but the fact that they do not diminish in size towards the poles makes this impossible. These twists in function are enjoyed by the artist as he alters the mathematics of the form, releases the geometry and then destroys the apparent function.

The plates of cast iron, bolted together with industrial precision, are made to the rules of the Golden Section (the division of a line so that the whole is to the greater as that part is to the smaller part), and in this case are based on the proportions of the artist's body. The outer skin is turned inwards showing the 'industrial' construction of multiple parts, thus turning on its head the logic with which the composition was formed. The textured surface is a celebration of man-made replicas of natural forms, as Charles Hadcock prefers to delve into areas first explored by others, the challenge posed by nature seeming too great. His abiding interest in mathematics, architecture, archaeology, the recent industrial past and manufacturing processes testifies to this.