Collection Insight: 'Energy Locator' by Anne Hardy

Anne Hardy is known for large-scale installations that often employ sources of light. In 2022 she spent two months as a resident at The Chinati Foundation in Marfa, Texas, USA, which was set up by artist Donald Judd in the 1970s. In the legacy of Judd, Hardy created ‘earth spells’ using soil, stones and salvaged materials she'd found in the desert and around the Marfa site. Upon returning to London, she created Survival Spell, a new body of work inspired by the residency.

In Energy Locator, which was made for Survival Spell, two outstretched hands, formed of stones, gesture towards a flickering lightbulb, all carefully placed atop the wooden flange of a cable spool forming a table. It's a work that has both the suggestion of human presence and an eerie absence.

The pattern of fluctuating light created by the bulb correlates with recorded meteorological data from Marfa, in particular the changing wind speed, and is controlled by a custom built computer system. The lightbulb and its hidden circuitry hint at interconnected energy systems, be it the weather, light, electrical power grids or the human body, as suggested by the stones that have been formed into the shape of hands.

As a port city, Plymouth is defined by its relationship to the sea and may seem opposite to Texas. But both the South West of the USA and the UK have a history of rural landscapes known for farming and mining. The study of weather has also shaped both places. |Devon is where the Met Office is based, and since the 1800s Plymouth has been home to maritime research institutions that monitor the sea and environmental patterns, including the human impact on marine ecology.

Hardy has long been interested in using the weather as a metaphor for emotion. With increasing anxieties about climate change, her work makes for a timely acquisition and sits alongside a broader collection of work at The Box that considers our relationship to the land.

Find out more

● Follow artist Anne Hardy on Instagram
● Discover more about her work
● Learn more about the Contemporary Art Society

Image credit
All images by Angus Mill © Anne Hardy. Courtesy Maureen Paley, London.