Sculpture Forum 59: Garth Evans in Cardiff
An audio discussion recorded December 19, 2023 by David Shayne in New York City, between Garth Evans, Michael Brenson, Jock Ireland, and Brandt Junceau about Garth Evans’ public sculpture, “Untitled Sculpture,” first installed in Cardiff, Wales, in 1972. Fifty years later, and multiple audio interviews, two books, a play, and a reinstallation in between, Garth, Michael, Jock, and Brandt discuss it all. (All the video after the first bit is the single image of the two book covers, so this is a good one to listen to while walking, no need to watch it, really. –Maud Bryt)
Garth Evans:
“The place for sculpture in the world is not a place I’m comfortable with, or in.”
“I didn’t attempt to make another public sculpture again until very recently.”
Michael Brenson:
“The language around it has a surrealist resonance about it… Something’s at play that you don’t know yourself… There’s all this stuff that’s part of the language of the work, part of how it’s made, and then you left the work, you abandoned it… And then you need to go back, and you need to understand your relationship to the work….then it’s clear you need a completely different language….The books become this process of exploration, of digging. So it becomes this voyage of discovery.”
Brandt Junceau:
“You’ve really done your damnedest, to speak to people one-to-one…. You really want to hear back from them, and they have this gulf to come over, to reach you, and to hear what you’ve said…”
Jock Ireland:
“That kind of meaning seems to me not as important— the kids who played on it in 1972 and remember playing on it. That’s not as important as the miners who are being memorialized, all the people outside of you. That’s where I’m coming from. It’s not something you can understand. You’re trying to understand it by talking about a situation where there’s a public that looks at the sculpture and responds to it.”
To see the books, read about the play, or to watch the sizzle for the upcoming film by David Shayne, here are some links:
Sculpture Forum 
Garth is thinking about a new title.
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Thank you for pointing out my oversight! The title of the sculpture is “Untitled Sculpture.” I’ve added that to the post. —Maud Bryt for Sculpture Forum
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Does Mr Evans sculpture have a title or name other than Cardiff sculpture? It would seem this work found its’ natural home on a college campus. A Raymond Mason sculpture would have spoken more forth rightly to the citizens of Cardiff.
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