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Conor Ackhurst



Cutterhead is an interpretation of the tunnel boring machines component at the forefront of its excavation. TBMs are vast complex machines used in contemporary tunnelling for large infrastructure projects. Like giant earth ships they carve through the subterranean world.
This sculpture is comprised of salvage terracotta from Lincoln in the East Midlands with an aluminium backing. Terracotta is a purely earth bound medium for construction without aggregates. The material creates the inverse of the excavated matter, an impression formed by the machines immense force and friction.
The precision of the markings have a feeling of an eerie ancient technology. A forgotten archeology melding with a science fiction relic.
The tunnel boring machine has been the bearer of utopian visions in the past, a catalyst of social progress. The machine played a leading role in the 1913 German book 'Der Tunnel' written by Bernhard Kellermann, one of the most sold books of the 20th century.

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Install of
Cutterhead #2
and series
Fairest What Is Still in Veil -
EPB TBM DD432-1113
EPB TBM DD305-1213


Exhibited of Cutterhead #1 in "Quarry" at Dovetail in London Fields.
Install shots below.




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