Soldered brass, MDF, 15 x 12 x 9, 2008.
The title is the subtitle of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. Shelley’s Prometheus is Victor Frankenstein, who animates a body built from parts and is destroyed by what he makes. The sculpture is built from parts as well: a candlestick, discs, a horn and looped tubing. It depicts an abstracted Promethean figure, after the theft of fire from the gods. In one hand it holds a thin rod with a small cup at the tip, the stalk in which Prometheus carried fire down from the gods. Beside the pedestal stands a tall candlestick with a bare top, holding no candle. The figure has the fire, and the candlestick stands empty.
