Elephantom is a video work by Emma Elliott which is derived from her sculptural work of the same name. The work is a time-lapsed video of the creation process of the work, accompanied by an ambient soundtrack by Caspar Leopard. The sculpture is part of a new body of work titled Transient Global Amnesia composed of four sculptures carved from Carrara marble reflecting on the increase in numbers of species threatened by extinction. The work begins with a solid block of marble that is slowly shaped and carved over 28 days. Other artists work in the background as Elliott chisels and sands the work into its final form.
The sculptures in the Transient Global Amnesia series are High and Dry, Elephantom, Wry?No! and The Scream and combine forms from living creatures, fossils and an iconic painting, referencing despair, past and present. Elephantom is reminiscent of both an elephant trunk and an ammonite fossil and symbolises the doomed status of elephants in the wild today.
Transient Global Amnesia is presented in an exhibition as part of on form 18, the UK’s only biennial of sculpture in stone in June 2018. Elliott was awarded the on form 2018 bursary for sculptors under 35 working in stone.
