‘Gathered World’ Exhibition

Peter Bodenham interest in the museumification of objects lies at the heart of his engagement with ‘Gathered World’. It is significant that his chosen artefact, a humble, terracotta milk cooler, is taken from a museum display. Removed from the domestic space, this once functional item now seems impotent. However, for Peter it transforms into a charged and potent presence, a marker for an ergonomic past and a beacon for future sustainable living. Driven by his concerns for the environment, the milk cooler, for Peter, operates as a symbol of simplicity and honesty. A cyclical connection between past and future technologies is formed; the unassuming, historical milk cooler silently contextualises potential design solutions for contemporary environmental problems.

For ‘Gathered World’, Peter has constructed a functional artwork that operates as a hybrid of old and new, employing recycled found objects that form a relationship with Peter’s hand thrown contemporary version of the cooling vessel. Life cycles are suggested. Old objects are re-vitalised and assigned new purpose, while the newly made clearly acknowledges its debt to the past through analogous form and style.

Cath Roche