Can and stone, Thermos (Thames)
Belmacz Gallery, London. 2021
Part of Beuys Open Source
Can, stone, candle
Four individual works: 26 x 19 cm, 25 x 12 cm, 22 cm x 9 cm, 16 x 10 cm

 

Can and stone, Thermos (Thames 26 cm)

 

Instructions:
Switch the gallery heating off. 
An invitation to warm up, Thermos is an ad hoc assemblage that can temporarily heat the hands and bodies of people convened in a space.
Four stones, dug from the Thames at low tide, are placed over four food can vessels. Situated within each can, a tea light that heats the stone. Once heated, each stone can be handled, passed between bodies; acting as a heater in the process.
(Please be aware when each stone is hot. It’s best to blow out the candle and to take caution when handling the hot stones.)
As people gather around the assemblage, passing the stones between one another, they share the labour of maintaining this heating system; caring for the stones as they are in turn heated by the candle assemblage as well as the conviviality of their meeting.
Thermos, therefore, affords an invitation to explore ways of rekindling dormant and underutilised methods of interaction and sharing. Rewilding an overreliance and outsourcing outdated (technological) systems that are assumed to hold our bodily needs in place.