Block with Eight Pieces 1964

Curator: Here we have Geoffrey Clarke's "Block with Eight Pieces," a substantial sculpture now held in the Tate Collections. Editor: Monumental is the first word that comes to mind. It feels like ancient ruins, a forgotten temple or altar. Curator: Clarke often explored themes of industry and technology. Do you see any symbolism pointing in that direction? Editor: Perhaps these geometric forms represent components, modular pieces of some larger system? The grey palette certainly lends an industrial air. But ultimately, it feels like a relic, something unearthed rather than constructed. Curator: It could be that Clarke saw these geometric shapes as archetypes, the basic building blocks of form itself. Editor: It certainly speaks to something fundamental, a kind of primal geometry. I like that idea. Curator: Looking at it again, I'm reminded of children’s blocks, a set for constructing worlds. Editor: Yes, a sense of potential, waiting to be unlocked. A playful yet imposing work.