Soft pipes, play on
Melbourne Now, Vesssels, co-curated by the NGV & Craft
Soft Pipes, play on reimagines a prehistoric stone-hewn vessel in lush blue velvet. Created using a time-intensive process of knotting velvet to create a dense organic surface, the vessel combines a historic form with a contemporary material, divesting the object of its original function. The title of the work is derived from English Romantic poet John Keats’ 1819 poem ‘Ode on a Grecian urn.’ While the poem refers to musical pipes in a scene painted onto the surface of a Greek vessel, Pattle recontextualises the line to describe the material property of her amphora. Pattle’s vessel playfully muddles culture and material within the framework of an anthropogenic material culture.