© Diane Maclean / BONO. Photo: © Kristina A. Kvåle / Ekebergparken
Open Book
- Date 2010
- Unveiled 2013
- Material Stainless steel
- Dimensions 240 x 280 x 120 cm
«I really love the materials I work with – I think I'm trying to make them become their best.»
Photo: © Ivar Kvaal
Diane Maclean
(b. United Kingdom, 1939)
Diane Maclean was born in London, but her family is originally from Scotland. After several years of language studies and work as a portrait painter, she developed an interest in sculpture. In the 1980s she studied sculpture at Hertfordshire College of Art and Design. Since the 1990s she has been working with large scale forms, often in stainless steel. She has taught Environmental Art at the Helsinki Fine Art Academy. In 1998, she was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of British Sculptors and is also a member of the Society of Scottish Artists.
Open Book is a monumental sculpture, in a minimalistic and geometrical shape, clearly resembling a book with its middle pages spread open. The format gives a full-size reflection of the viewer. The two sides are made of thin steel plates that have had a chemical surface treatment. This has resulted in their reflective coloured surface. The steel plates have been dipped in large containers at different temperatures, which has resulted in uneven thickness of oxidisation producing different colours in the steel.
The title Open Book is engraved on the spine. The work is inspired by her husband’s grandfather, the pastor Donald Maclean, whose life work was a manuscript of all known Gaelic texts. He worked tirelessly to make sure this ancient language would be preserved for the future, but he eventually had to sell his life’s work to pay for his children’s education.
This oxidised surface treatment is repeated in many of Maclean’s sculptures. She manipulates the colour spectrum in the material, made naturally by the light. Maclean has been collaborating with the company Birch Engineering for many years, and this has made it possible for her to develop high quality installations in monumental sizes.
Open Book ties together the world of knowledge with the landscape and nature that surrounds it and is placed so that the light will hit at a certain angle and reflect the surroundings. The colour in the foil changes over the course of the day. Rather than a written work that paints an inner picture for the reader with words as spatial and visual objects, the surroundings and the viewer are pulled into Open Book, allowing us to be the subject.
Guided tours
Experience Open Book and many of the other artworks in the collection with our art mediators. We offer guided tours for private groups all year around.