From the Knees of my Nose to the Belly of my Toes

London, United Kingdom

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From the Knees of my Nose to the Belly of my Toes

London, United Kingdom

Firm

Alex Chinneck

Type

Cultural › Sculpture

YEAR

2013

British artist and designer Alex Chinneck has completed construction of his most ambitious installation to date after peeling the front of a four-storey house in Margate away from the rest of the building. As curving bricks, windows and doors slide into the front garden of a property that has been vacant for eleven years its upper interiors are revealed to the public below.

Thanet District Council gave the artist permission to use an empty property on Godwin Road in the Cliftonville area to create the artwork. Cliftonville is a district striking for both the grandeur of its architecture and for the challenging social issues it has faced in the last thirty years. Together with Margate’s widely discussed use of culture as a tool for regeneration, this provides an ideal context for the piece.

The completion of construction follows a twelve-month campaign undertaken by the artist to realise his self-initiated £100,000 project. Ten leading companies across British industry donated all the materials, manufacturing capabilities and professional services required to build the sliding facade.

Alex Chinneck’s practice playfully warps the everyday world around us, presenting surreal spectacles in the places we expect to find something familiar. At 28 years old ‘From the knees of my nose to the belly of toes’ is his boldest project yet as he continues to theatrically combine art and architecture in physically amazing ways. This project follows his acclaimed 2012 installation ‘Telling the truth through false teeth’, in which the artist installed 1248 pieces of glass across the façade of a factory in Hackney to create the illusion that its 312 windows had been identically smashed and cracked.
Alex Chinneck is a London based artist and designer: www.alexchinneck.com. He is the founder of The Sculpture House: www.thesculpturehouse.co.uk, a member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors and a graduate of Chelsea College of Art and Design.
Title: From the knees of my nose to the belly of my toes Location: 1 Godwin Road, Cliftonville, Margate, CT9 2HA Date: 1st of October 2013 – October 2014
Public Opening: Midday – 2pm, 29th September 2013

ponsors and Supporters
This project has been made possible with support from the Arts Council England, Margate Arts Creativity Heritage, Thanet District Council, Ibstock Brick, Smith and Wallwork Engineers, Norbord, Macrolux, WW Martin, Urban Surface Protection, Jewson, RJ Fixings, Resort Studios, Cook Fabrications, the Brick Development Association, and All Access Scaffolding.