Jenny vs EV, 2005, Sense in Place, Cardiff
Cardiff was one of the main ports for exports of coal. Coal as artistic material draw my attention during the ‘Sense in Place’ project in Cardiff. I understood coal as a material linked to the history of Wales, its tradition and position in the British Empire. I decided to make a coal brick with an embossed image of Welsh Jenny (stereotypical image of Welsch women) as a symbol of Wales. I collected coal powder, mixed it with cement and casted a brick. In a later discussion with local people I was told that similar bricks were made during World War II because there was no coal but only coal powder and that was the way to solidify, transport and burn it.
The coal brick was displayed next to an original brick taken from a Victorian fortress situated on Flat Holm Island, Cardiff.
Jenny vs EV was made during the project Sense in Place