More about Elements, 2016
'
Elements is my response to the diverse and wide-ranging collections in the Royal Museum of Scotland, particularly focusing on
Homo faber, Man the Maker. Since the earliest times humankind has created tools as a means of doing things that hands alone cannot achieve, resulting in materials and processes that have shaped the world around us. I have used an architectural detail from the newly refurbished galleries as a way of bringing together arts, science and technology.
Elements is comprised of two groups of elements from the periodic table, the first being Carbon (C), Hydrogen (H), Oxygen (O) and Nitrogen (N), together being the basis of life on earth. This group also contains:
the symbol for phi or the Golden Section, the mathematical equation that governs growth and form in nature. The second group is made up of Iron (Fe), Carbon (C), Silicon (Si), Magnesium (Mg) and Calcium (Ca), the elements that are brought together in the making of cast iron and steel, from which the galleries are largely constructed.
My aim has been to demonstrate the ingenuity of the human species in the development of materials, processes and tools, which combined with an innate sense of design has created the array of marvellous objects that can be seen in this museum.'
- Michael Eden, 2016
