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G577A The Life Of Dmitri Mendeleev
American walnut, aluminium, brass, acrylic sheet, gold
Mar to May 2013, Size 300x150x65 mm

About this sculpture

A book made for an art book competition.

This tells the story of a relationship from start to finish in abstract form using chemical elements. The pages of transparent acrylic plastic with gilded lettering seemed to suit the delicate feeling of atoms so the story became dedicated to Dmitri Mendeleev, the founder of the periodic table.

Each page is a chemical element; Helium, the two protons symbolising love. Oxygen, joy. Xenon, an alien interloper. Argon, anger, a simple pun. Nitrogen, coldness and stagnation. Hydrogen, the sole proton symbolising isolation, then vacuum, death.

The story isn't directly related to Dmitri Mendeleev. I wanted a book about delicacy; and thin, gold atoms on transparent pages seemed ideal, so a story told entirely in the medium of chemical elements seemed perfect.

Technical details

There were several technical challenges for this, my first project to use hardwood. I made a simple wire bending machine to bend the thick brass hinges into a perfect arch, and experimented with decoration methods on the soft aluminium cover. The gilded pages were also a challenge, the plastic surface tending to stick the gold leaf where it was not wanted.

The Life Of Dmitri Mendeleev (Original)
Price: £1085.00
Click here if you would like to buy this artwork.