Phil Morrison | Sculpture
" Tome "
“Tome” is 15 feet tall and was built from the enamel coated metal casings of 40 discarded clothes washers and dryers. Using a plasma cutter I cut over 200 words of text out of the metal casings. The text was a rambling conversation between me and the viewer. I describe practical reasons for choosing the appliances as material, I go on about the cost of gas, home ownership and various other topics.
Part of the inspiration for “Tome” came from one of The Who’s album covers. It was the “Who’s next” album with the photo of the band and the concrete monolith. From an early age I’ve been fascinated by the gravity and power of monoliths. This fascination, the album cover, and the ideas about language I had been experimenting with sculpturally at the time all collided to result in “Tome”.
Whenever I would install “Tome” I would put it together randomly making it impossible to read anymore than fragmented snippets of the original text. Interesting new words were created at the intersections of the casings. Ultimately for me the written text was inconsequential. All I really wanted to do was build a large structure that was weakened by every word I cut into it. Sometimes a thing can be diminished by over-rationalizing and explaining. As I worked on the piece I became more interested in the fact that the words became windows allowing light in, allowing you to see inside.
I did a mock up for fun of what it would've looked like up at UNBC here in Prince George, B.C.
“Tome” is meant to come into it’s own as it ages, deteriorates and weeps with rust. I find the sculpture particularly enchanting when viewed within the crispness of a moonlit winter night lighted from the inside with text radiating out across the snow.