Veil of Tears

A proposal for the temporary use of the plinth remaining after the toppling of Colston's Monument in Bristol. Submitted to Bristol City Council as a mechanism to start a debate on the memorialisation of past dignitaries whose moral compass now is seen as offensive. Unfortunately BCC decided to appoint a commission to evaluate all monuments in Bristol and their role in defining Bristol's history which seems like an exercise designed for procrastination . I proposed an abstract sculpture where a light absorbing black cube ( Id like to persuade Anish Kapoor to loosen his grip on his monopoly on the use of Vanta Black in any art work) hovers over a veil of tears. The proportions mimic the height of the original statue but is composed of two volumes each of 1m3; the volume deemed appropriate by slave traders to house a slave on a slave ship for a 3 month journey. The tears would drip from the base of the cube and be recirculated using a solar power pump, lighting to the underside would create the effect of the cube floating. The Vanta black cube would have the effect of appearing like a black hole: absorbing all light energy around it and reference the BLM Instagram page posted on Blackout Tuesday.