05:09 PHOTOS: EXHIBITION; "Subconscious of a Monument" - Cornelia Parker installation
RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London W1B 1AD

Subconscious of a Monument, a haunting installation by highly-acclaimed artist Cornelia Parker, will go on display at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) from 21 September - 25 October, as part of the RIBA Trust’s programme for Autumn 2005.

The installation is composed of fragments of desiccated clay removed by engineers from beneath the Tower of Pisa when restructuring work was carried out to save the monument from collapse in 2001. Suspended at waist-height from the ceiling of the gallery, the fragments seem lighter than air - gathered together they hover in the space.

Parker’s work, often a practice of formalising things beyond our control, transforms the most ordinary objects into something compelling and extraordinary. In the case of Subconscious of a Monument, Parker reverses the conventions of archaeology and preserves lost earth, rather than lost objects, and attempts to provide meaning to something which is commonplace, even forgettable.

Cornelia Parker will give a talk at the RIBA, 66 Portland Place, W1 on 11 October at 6.30pm. This talk will provide a unique opportunity to enter into a dialogue with the artist about the cultural metaphors and personal associations of her work.
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Presented in association with the Frith Street Gallery, London and D’Amelio Terras Gallery, New York, this exhibition coincides with the Freize Art Fair (21-14 October 2005) and is part of an RIBA Trust programme to exhibit contemporary art that has a resonance with, or draws on architecture.

RIBA