Artists > 2010: Framing Identity > Austin Houldsworth

Work

Austin Houldsworth’s 4m-tall Two Million & 1AD, an experimental ‘fossilisation machine’, referenced the discoveries of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and the burgeoning interest in acquiring, cataloguing and increasing the general knowledge base. The attempt to create a fossil using rudimentary, human-designed machines in place of truly natural processes was a folly of sorts, but one with a sting in its tail: Houldsworth’s project started with the attempt to petrify both a Tatton-grown pineapple and pheasant, but will only ‘naturally’ conclude when the artist is able to fossilise a human – there are no known petrified remains of Homo sapiens sapiens in the current fossil record. Shouldn’t there be?

Biography

Austin Houldsworth studied Design Interactions at the Royal College of Art. Through his work he strives to create solutions to the problems that are often neglected by industry - the things in life that make us who we are, that give us a sense of purpose or simply a little comfort.

His work often involves chemical reactions, which have been a recurring part of his process. From the intense heat of Thermite within his Surviving with Englishness project, which imagines how a humble cup of tea could be made with just a few minutes remaining on Earth, to the slow geochemical process of petrification in 2 Million & 1 AD. Recently, his work as been part of the award winning ‘Disruptive Thinking’ exhibition at ‘Designersblock’, London. Previous exhibitions include; Microsoft Research, Cambridge; Liverpool Biennial; Site 06 Art Festival, Stroud; as well as numerous film festivals.