Missing Mass

Experimenting with ideas of time, space and physicality, Carey Young’s body of artistic work explores law as a separate kind of ‘reality’, one with its own inherent subjectivities and points of breakdown.

‘Missing Mass’ (2010) is a sculptural work created with the scientific guidance of Prof. Malcolm Fairbairn, an astrophysicist based at King’s College London and is exhibited at the Science Gallery, London exhibition ‘Dark Matter: 95% of the Universe is missing’.

Carey Young: Missing Mass, 2010 (installation view) 5,461 dark matter particles present in perspex container, on pedestal with silkscreened text container: 18 x 18 x 18 in. (45.7 x 45.7 x 45.7 cm) pedestal: 38 x 18 x 18 in. (96.5 x 45.7 x 45.7 cm) © Carey Young. Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York

Missing Mass (2010) is a sculptural work created with the scientific guidance of Prof. Malcolm Fairbairn, an astrophysicist based at King’s College London. The piece ‘presents’ a specific number of dark matter particles alongside a legal disclaimer which proposes the particles as the only truly free entities in existence. The work centres on the idea of artistic freedom, suggesting that if dark matter particles are the only free entities in existence, by implication, art, the artist, and any other societal or cultural element held to be symbolic of freedom, are merely constrained, whether by gravity, bureaucracy, institutional ties, etc. The work also proposes links between sculptural works associated with Minimalism and Conceptual Art (such as the early work of Hans Haacke) and contemporary developments in astrophysics.

The work was developed through a research process which involved regular meetings with Dr. Fairbairn, plus an astrophysics reading list, which necessitated five months of study. From this process I derived the idea for the work, as well as others including Terminal Velocity.

Carey Young Missing Mass, 2010 (detail) 5,461 dark matter particles present in perspex container, on pedestal with silkscreened text container: 18 x 18 x 18 in. (45.7 x 45.7 x 45.7 cm) pedestal: 38 x 18 x 18 in. (96.5 x 45.7 x 45.7 cm) Photo: Thierry Bal. © Carey Young. Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York

The text on the plinth says:

Carey Young
2010
5,461 dark matter particles present in perspex container, 18 x 18 x 18 inches.*

* Disclaimer

  1. i) Dark matter particles are governed by their own laws and may circulate freely.ii)  The figure of 5461 dark matter particles represents an average according to current scientific thinking. Actual amounts may vary from time to time.iii)  Dark matter is transparent and undetectable to the human eye.iv)  Since dark matter may at any time pass through any surrounding man-made or natural structures, including the walls of this container, your body, and the whole material structure of the planet, any collector of this work should not expect to own the same 5,461 dark matter particles at any one time.

Carey Young Missing Mass, 2010 (detail) 5,461 dark matter particles present in perspex container, on pedestal with silkscreened text container: 18 x 18 x 18 in. (45.7 x 45.7 x 45.7 cm) pedestal: 38 x 18 x 18 in. (96.5 x 45.7 x 45.7 cm) Photo: Steven Probert. © Carey Young. Courtesy Paula Cooper Gallery, New York

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Artist Statement

Since 2003, visual artist Carey Young has developed a number of artworks that are also functional legal instruments, and which have conceptualised and explored law as an artistic medium. Young collaborates with legal advisors to make artworks in installation, video, performance, print, sculpture and photography, which have been exhibited internationally. These works have embodied such diverse forms as contracts, disclaimers, offers, licenses, cautionary statements and a will, and addressed disparate legal fields including human rights, inheritance law, intellectual property and law relating to outer space. Experimenting with ideas of time, space and physicality, Young’s body of artistic work explores law as a separate kind of ‘reality’, one with its own inherent subjectivities and points of breakdown.

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www.careyyoung.com

 

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