Nelson, Mike [Artist] (2024) Un Intruso (uninvited, into chaos). .

Abstract

When invited to make a new commission for the Three Chimneys, Mike Nelson’s first sense of the building was that it should be left empty, transforming the now-defunct electric power plant into an industrial sculpture through an act of artistic denomination. For Nelson, the venue’s importance lies not in its interior, but in the totemic nature of its exterior: a megalithic statement of power, not only from the perspective of energy, but also on political, economic, environmental and, above all, human levels. In response to this, he elected to intervene in the framing of the venue, reclaiming its brutalist attitude while manipulating the visitor’s (singular, personal) relationship to it. To do so, Nelson built a shack with the remnants of demolished houses, old warehouses and other salvaged materials. His intervention, located on the periphery of the site, appears to have been here for many years, home perhaps to a former worker or squatter. There is no sign saying that it is a work of art – it just exists, as if it has always been there. The visitor is invited to enter and become its unknown inhabitant. Inside a window beckons, with a framed view towards the chimneys: a view that recalls the front covers of 1970s science fiction novellas, its depiction suggesting a future foreseen that we may, or may not, occupy now.

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