When Things Come Apart is showing at Wells Cathedral having been selected for Wells Art Contemporary 2021

Statue of Liberty in demise selected for Wells Art Contemporary 2021

An installation by artist Dd- Deborah Davies- entitled When Things Come Apart is one of 28 artworks chosen out of over 200 installation submissions from around the world for this year’s Wells Art Contemporary. It is part of the wider exhibition showing over 100 pieces selected from over  3500 entire in the category of  two-dimensional and sculptural work.  Wells Art Contemporary is one of the highlights of the visual arts calendar, renowned for its remit of choosing works by artists that  “stimulate debate, challenge and provoke, pushing the boundaries of the visual arts scene both nationally and internationally.” The installation by artist Dd exemplifies this aim.

Standing over 5 meters tall the work is a scaled- up matchstick kit of Lady Liberty, it is  site specific and never installed the same way twice,  and always in a state of collapse. As such,  it comments on liberty’s demise and possible reconstruction not just in America, but the world over.

In this particular installation, the work is displayed in Palm Court, one of the gardens at Wells Cathedral.  Confronted by a monumental torso you realize that the head, with its crown still intact, has crashed into the seating below, and that the torch has been dropped now laying in the  grass some distance away from Liberty's outstretched arm. With her timber panels strewn around you feel you are looking at a construction site: is liberty in decline or is it in a process of re-construction?  This question is further echoed by the tombstones surrounding her, providing their own reflection of loss and decay.

The installation coincides with the USA’s decision to remove all troops out of Afghanistan and the final collapse of the western supported government.  Is Liberty just for Americans or does the USA owe it to Afghanis too? Is this another step in the decline of global liberty or just part of the ebb and flow of growth and decline.

Mirroring this is the deterioration in Anglo-American relations. While the UK Government is seeking a stronger  ‘special relationship’ with America in so many ways it is stepping away from liberties that might be seen to align with the traditional American values. Both countries, it seems, are wrangling with the question,  “What price liberty?”.

Throughout history, effigies, statues, and monuments, have been public declarations in their creation and destruction. Attacks on them signaling outrage, turmoil of the times, or ushering in a new order. Most public statues in the Western world are now under scrutiny. Memorable samples include the toppling of the statue of deposed Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, in 2003 and the removal of the Confederate Generals in the USA. Much more recent is the tearing down of the Edward Colston statue in Bristol and the demands from the campaign group “Rhodes Must Fall,” to remove the statue of Cecil Rhodes from the façade of Oriel College, Oxford. 

Made from over 1.5 tons of construction timber, When Things Come Apart,  is custom-built from hundreds of lengths of wood, all meticulously cut,  glued and screwed together to form detachable panels.  During the last three years, ‘When Things Come Apart’ has been displayed in various states of collapse in a number of UK art galleries.  In one iteration, for instance, part of the torso was displayed on its side with the remaining panels tumbling into the gallery setting. In another, panels were used to construct a walls and barricades that trailed behind her. 

This year the exhibition, which ends on Sunday 26th September 2021,  coincides with the installation of a new Antony Gormley work  on the West Front of the Cathedral.