Martin Firrell
Sun (Artist's Maquette)
2007
This artist's maquette was fabricated from a football, ping-pong ball, corrugated cardboard and white spray paint.

It was used to investigate the effect of the curvature of the dome of St Paul's on projected text. Several tests were video-taped to serve as references for producing the full scale projections the following year.

The maquette made it possible to test animation speeds, and to determine the maximum line width before the text was distorted by the falling away of the dome's surface.

The Question Mark Inside was commissioned by Dean and Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral as the first large-scale public artwork in the cathedral's history. It marked the 300th anniversary of the topping-out of Sir Christopher Wren's architectural masterpiece in 2008.

The work posed the simple question, 'What makes your life meaningful and purposeful?' and invited responses from clergy, scientists, artists, atheists and the general public during the anniversary year.

The resulting texts, from the domestic to the sexual to the sublime, were projected onto the exterior of the cathedral dome, the West Front at Ludgate Hill, and the interior of the Whispering Gallery.
Part Of
The Question Mark Inside
Medium
Plastic, corrugated cardboard, spray paint
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Hi-res image
Residency
Public Artist in Residence
St Paul's Cathedral
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