Alison Wilding

Description

'Rising' was produced shortly after Wilding heard a radio play about scientists who were working on the first atomic pile in 1942. The pile, called Chicago Pile-1(CP-1), was the result of the first-ever controlled, self-sustaining nuclear reaction produced on a disused squash court on the University of Chicago campus. CP-1 formed part of the Manhattan Project, a project to develop the first atomic bomb.

"The play started me thinking about the pile - what did it look like - what was its scale and why did it take that particular form. Curiosity about the pile within the squash court within the campus was the starting point for the sculpture."

For Wilding, the pile had striking similarities to the pyramid and stepped structures of ancient civilisations. Her choice of a synthetic material, acrylic, produced with the striations of classical marble, references both the primitive and scientific roots of this form.

At the heart of the CP-1 pile lay uranium pellets that functioned as a neutron-producing core whose activity eventually produced a reaction of critical mass. The semi-concealed red disk that sits at the base of 'Rising' alludes to the neutron-producing core of the original pile, which informs the title of this piece.