1998 | Cataclysm / Cataclisma

Site-specific temporary interior construction - architectural screen - designed for Officina Clemente Architects, Naples, Italy, April - July 1998

Dimensions in cm: 600 w x 300 h x 150 d

Medium: laser cut, drilled and ground galvanised steel, threaded steel rod, nuts, bolts and large red oxide painted washers, fluorescent strip light

Current location: destroyed

Exhibited in: A Room with a View, Naples, an Artesign exhibition, Officina Clemente Architects, Piazza Plebescito, Naples, Italy, September 1998

Artist’s notes:

Naples is a precarious place with the eruption of Vesuvius as a permanent threat. Cataclysm is a response to this. Designed for an established architect’s offices, the screen sits on top of a standard room divider. The uplighter inside the structure draws attention to the beautiful vaulted ceilings of the old architecture, and the screen’s upward linear perforations makes reference to the spitting lava of the volcano.

Photos 1, 2 and 4: Stuart Johnstone