Anarchy and ecstasy
Cornelia Parker’s obsession with the past never fails to surprise
EVER since she was a girl growing up on a farm in the north of England, Cornelia Parker has enjoyed getting her hands dirty. In her latest work, “The Sub-conscious of a Monument”, she uses dirt excavated from underneath the leaning tower of Pisa to make an earth installation in Turin's Galleria d'Arte Moderna (GAM). “When I learned they were restoring the monument by removing the earth from one side of the tower, I negotiated with the authorities to take some of it because I was fascinated by the idea of taking the sub-soil of such a monument, which hasn't seen the light of day for over 800 years.”
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Anarchy and ecstasy”
From the June 9th 2001 edition
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