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The clock is ticking on the art of Eric Butcher. In 2020, motivated by environmental anxiety, the artist made an extraordinary commitment; to use only those materials already available in his studio - using up, repurposing and recycling what he already has without consuming more. When he has run out of materials he will simply stop making art. Over the past six years Butcher has relentlessly pursued the logic of this enquiry, destroying his own work in the process and re-presenting the fragments of paint sandwiched between sheets of glass like specimens; a ‘natural history’ of his creative past. Sumptuously documented by photographer Peter Abrahams with a fascinating essay by Jonathan Watkins and a revelling ‘in conversation’ between Eric Butcher and artist/write David Batchelor, Trace Elements chronicles this unique and compelling on-going project.
The clock is ticking on the art of Eric Butcher. In 2020, motivated by environmental anxiety, the artist made an extraordinary commitment; to use only those materials already available in his studio - using up, repurposing and recycling what he already has without consuming more. When he has run out of materials he will simply stop making art. Over the past six years Butcher has relentlessly pursued the logic of this enquiry, destroying his own work in the process and re-presenting the fragments of paint sandwiched between sheets of glass like specimens; a ‘natural history’ of his creative past. Sumptuously documented by photographer Peter Abrahams with a fascinating essay by Jonathan Watkins and a revelling ‘in conversation’ between Eric Butcher and artist/write David Batchelor, Trace Elements chronicles this unique and compelling on-going project.