SAFETY IN NUMBERS / SAFETY IN NUMBERS MK.2

2014 / 2026

FOR SALE. Welded corten steel sheet

10' (3m) tall

Photographs by Alister Thorpe

‘Safety in Numbers’, was made shortly after moving to Lewes, East Sussex. My studio was in an old iron foundry, its jumbled angular roof scape providing much of the inspiration. This was my first experience using laser cutting, a numerically computer controlled cutting process which ensures great accuracy. The title refers to the delicious certainly of numbers, in a world where nothing else is quite black or white.

The original ‘Safety in Numbers’, made in 2014 in mild steel (painted grey as pictured), was sold two days after completion and resided happily in a garden in Firle, East Sussex. A decade later, my client rang me and explained that having enjoyed the sculpture enormously, his downsizing meant he could not keep the sculpture. Having discovered corten steel immediately after finishing ‘Safety in Numbers’, I became dissatisfied with the painted finish. I did a deal and re-acquired the original, with the intention of remaking ‘Safety in Numbers Mk.2’ in corten steel. Please note that having originally sold ‘Safety in Numbers’ as unique, duplicating the form is strictly not on. Therefore, I have retained the original for myself but ‘Safety in Numbers Mk.2’ is available.