Artist Lecture: Francis Cape

London Avenue, 2008
poplar, text, sandbags
96 x 156 x 36 in

London Avenue (detail)

London Avenue (detail)

London Avenue (detail)

I have to admit that I had some trouble getting into the artist lecture given by Francis Cape yesterday. I believe that this was a combination of multiple factors. His British accent coupled with his tendency to speak very quickly as well as trail off at the end of his sentences made it hard for me to understand everything he was saying. I believe that he also assumed that we were all either familiar with his work or well-versed in things that he spoke about. There were many moments when he would mention something that I wished he would explain in more detail or on a more basic level. I do understand that as a sculptor he was primarily catering toward the sculpture students and not necessarily concerned with - or even aware of- artists in other fields in attendance, thus I'm sure some of my confusion may have been simply a lack of knowledge of the sculpture world.

I greatly appreciate the effort that he puts into research (for one piece he said he spent six months in the library!) and how he brings that into the meanings behind his pieces, often in very detailed ways. This is an example of things that I wished he would have elaborated on, instead of simply breeze through. Many of his pieces incorporate multiple distinct themes/meanings, such as the piece shown above, London Avenue, which references New Orleans, post-Hurricane Katrina, as well as the Festival of Britain in 1951 and the Utility Furniture Scheme. During the lecture I was very confused as to how the three worked together as I felt that there really wasn't explanation other than the fact that they were all incorporated. The information on his website does provide a bit more explanation and I do understand now that the Festival of Berlin was an exhibition whose purpose was boosting public morale and the economy after a disaster and how that relates to Prospect 1 New Orleans, an international contemporary art exhibit, for which the piece was made, held in New Orleans in 2008 to aid the city in it's recovery. I will have to do more research on the history of the Utility Furniture Scheme to completely understand it but he does provide information on its connection to the piece on the page that is included on the desk part of the sculpture. Perhaps part of his desire is that one should have to dig to completely understand his beliefs and what it is that he is saying.