The renowned sculptor Antony Gormley is known for his exploration into the intricate interaction between space and the human form. His works challenge the relationship between the individual space we feel within our own bodies and the exterior space around us, thus highlighting our minute significance within the infinite values of space and time. The atypical placement of his sculptures emphasises the disparity between their humanly representative forms and their often alienated surroundings. “In the high Alps of Vorarlberg, Gormley’s sculptures will be subjected to the forces of nature. In winter some will be covered by snow. Humanity is humbled here, rendered powerless”. (Peter Aspden, Antony Gormley: A Sculptor at His Peak, Financial Times, August 2010).

This particular lot forms part of Gormley’s Domain series, carried out between 1999 and 2009, in which the artist seeks to reveal these concealed elements of the human figure through form. Gormley defines the series as an emblem of the ability to surpass the limitations of the skin and purpose of the body as ‘a place of transformation’. He describes the role of the sculptor as dealing with “meta”; “they deal with objects, they deal with bodies, but I think, really, what I care about most is making space”. (Sculpted Space: Within and Without, Tedglobal, June 2012, www.ted. com/talks). Domain series represents the paradox intrinsic to the quality of sculptural figuration: the creation of material propositions alongside and in relation to the limitless, dimensionless quality of space itself.

The figure remains anonymous; a depiction of the human body that becomes universal in quality. The empty shell enables the dissection of the concept of the body and its place in space. Gormley’s de-personification of the body releases it from personal constraint, allowing it to become “an energy field, a space in space that talks about human life, between becoming an entropy as a sort of concentration of attention, a human place of possibility in space at large” (Sculpted Space: Within and Without). The materials used in the construction of the structure are designed to emphasise the physical emptiness within. Each piece pertaining to the Domain series is constructed of steel bars moulded in plaster from various volunteers. This use of the steel medium also provides the piece with an added tension: the meticulous construction it demands to achieve the correct volume reflecting that of a realistic figure must coincide with the structural restrictions regarding the object’s centre of gravity and subsequent stability. The minimalist quality of the material is directly controlled by its representative functionality: “to use the least amount of material necessary to convey the attitude of the body (while still allowing it to stand)”. (Antony Gormley on the Domain Series, 1999-2003, www.antonygormley.com).

This lot features a seated figure, with limbs outstretched. Its corporal quality is depicted simply by the outline of the human figure rather than any distinguishable or discernible individual features. Yet, even without these realistic elements, the sculpture still succeeds in emitting a particular response from the viewer. Gormley states: “Perhaps that body’s sexuality is less important than its verticality. The bodies are male, they are gendered, but you have to take more account of where it is placed and to where it is looking. The verticality of the body against the horizontality of the horizon is critical. I’m not sure if these works present an ideal of maleness or more usefully question the things that the traditional statue has stood for and indeed the whole notion of the standing of a statue”. (Libby Powell, Interview with Antony Gormley, New Internationalist, December 2011).

The sculptures are designed to work both as a whole, as presented in the Domain Field series, and in their own right. The individual power of the sculptures lies in their ability to not only interact with those around them but also with the audience: “They are about perceptions, about a reconciliation of the uniqueness and aloneness of every human in birth and death, while being open to everything that can happen in-between”. (Libby Powell, Interview with Antony Gormley, New Internationalist, December 2011).

In an era of virtual dominance, Gormley has managed to detach his work from the technological world and return to that of its founding elements. He states: “I wanted to start again with that environment, the environment of the intimate, subjective space that each of us lives in, but from the other side of appearance” (Sculpted Space: Within and Without). The importance of the physical and the aesthetic in his work is essential to understanding the theoretical and the psychological. The medium of sculpture as a whole can be seen as a three-dimensional, palpable presentation of an object. In the Domain series Gormley has been able to add an extra dimensionality to the medium. The open quality of the steel elements in the work allows the viewer to see both the form and the interior of the work. The interplay between structure and transparency plays on the value of visibility compared with imagination. The body shell in Domain begins to act as a type of catalyst between the factual and the hypothetical. Gormley re-invents the human body and deconstructs the space it inhabits.