Alan Constable’s singular sculptures of cameras, telescopes, projectors, and binoculars are imbued with a heightened tactility and inner life. Legally blind and deaf, Constable began constructing replicas of cameras from cereal cartons and glue at the age of eight. To create works in his studio at Arts Project Australia in Melbourne, Constable holds research images or source objects millimeters from his face, committing the form to memory by tracing the surface with his fingertips. Every protrusion, button, and lens of a specific camera model is faithfully captured in intricate detail, down to tiny scrawled lines and letters. Perspectives shift and Constable’s re-interpretations become at times anthropomorphic vessels—totems glazed in lustrous, mossy, earthy washes.
Dutton will be presenting new cameras and a telescope (pictured at the beginning of the video) by Constable at the Outsider Art Fair from January 16–20, in the Metropolitan Pavilion.
