in 2016, Great Britain, sculptural construction made of bronze, liquid metal and timber in the form of a console broken into two parts, the fragments complement each other and the two objects can also be placed one inside the other. The fragmented parts contrast with the neat, dark cuboid surfaces, and at the same they are in harmony with them precisely because they can be united. Signed. Height: c. 40 cm, width: c. 192 cm, depth: c. 62 cm, weight: c. 130 kg. (MHA)

Artist’s Proof (A. P.) Fragmented Console (AP)

Like much of Based Upon’s work, the fragmented crack has been created at the intersection of Art and Design. The piece speaks to the original crack, as tectonic plates broke, collided and re-formed to create new continents – birthing the diversity in life, lands and cultures of today. Each element of the piece is individually cast in bronze and designed to fit perfectly with the other. When brought together, the sculpture is one complete form; disparate parts are reunited and reconciled; their different functions are unified.
At one precious and raw, the fragmented crack embodies the Based Upon vision of creative engagement with narrative and nature in art and fabrication.
A play on the relationship between Design and Art, the Fragmented Console can exist as a sculpture, console, coffee table or bench.

Guided by twin brothers Ian and Richard Abell, the artist collective Based Upon travels the world to gather narratives, memories, textures, and histories. In the London studio, these grow into sculptural works which look at notions of wholeness and separation, the natural and the manmade. All of these works tell stories: of Based Upon’s own experiences or those of its clients. Each Based Upon work carries the intention of its maker; every piece resonating with the personal or physical landscapes from which it was conceived. With an intuitive eye for depth, beauty and meaning, Based Upon are artists, creators and adventurers. They find their centre on the edges of life by creating poetic sculptural work that reminds us to connect with the essence of life.

“Guided by nature, we journey deep in-to Landscape to witness it at its most simple and profound, unearthing the patterns observable at the largest and smallest scales of the known universe. It is an attempt to re-connect with the essential principals of the entire system in which we, as men and man, play such a temporal part.
We have this innate sense of wholeness, that all things are connected, that in essence we are one. But the world of phenomenon, that we observe is fragmented, separate and divided; everywhere we look we see boundaries and edges. Things are labelled, classified, made distinct. Yet looking out as far as we can, appears boundless and when we take the time to look in we may perceive a similar infinite space. So we are living between these two realities of wholeness and fragmentation, much of our work is an expression of that.”
IAN ABELL

With original certificate of authenticity.

“We were led by foot to a dwelling in Jinja, Uganda, on the banks of the white nile. We stopped at a cracked mud house in the jungle and drew casts from the surface of the building. We saw the intricacy, the beauty and the magic in a single crack.”
IAN ABELL