It’s that time of year when some people may be looking for a sinister thrill by watching classic horror films like “House of Wax,” but if you’re in London this year you can see an actual house made of wax in the flesh. Made from 8,000 wax bricks, the house is a fantastic installation by artist and designer Alex Chinneck, which is currently on display in London’s Covent Garden.
The work is called “A pound of flesh for 50p” and it poetically honors the history of an old candle factory which used to stand near the sculpture’s location in London’s district of Bankside.
The house will be melted manually with handheld heating apparatus commonly used in roofing applications. This method provides control over the artwork’s appearance, duration and changing figure, inspired by the classic process of sculpting material to shape form in a contemporary and unique way. The bricks will be cast in paraffin wax in beds of terracotta sand. This method makes each unique but collectively they mimic the colour, coarse surface and irregularity of a real wall. For the last twelve months the artist has collaborated with chemists, wax manufacturers and engineers to develop visually convincing wax bricks that transform in the most sculpturally effective way.
If you’re in London this month, be sure to drop by and take a gander, because it may be completely melted to the ground by November 18th!
[via Nag on the Lake]
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