One of the ways we can talk about the piece is in terms of its intrinsic qualities such as colour, materials, processes and organising principles. These questions encourage us to look more closely and state exactly what we see.

Cold Dark Matter is a three-dimensional piece but works against our traditional ideas of sculpture. Whereas traditional sculpture is concerned with solidity, here the artist is fascinated by fragmentation and materials in a state of flux. The artist herself writes, 'I've never made a solid sculpture; I am more interested in the space with and around the mass, in atmosphere'.

The exploded shed and its contents are suspended using transparent wire and are lit by a single light bulb at the centre of the installation. We can walk round and look through the work, discovering it element by element. The space between objects is an important part of the work and boundaries between the work and the viewer are blurred.

The objects cast dramatic shadows on the Gallery walls, adding another dimension to the piece and another level of meaning.

Discussion points

• Name some of the objects you can see. Are they arranged in any particular order?
• Why do you think the objects have been suspended in mid air (the artist could have laid them on the floor or placed them in a glass case)?
• Where do you think the light source is? If it were lit differently, how would the work change?
• These objects have been selected by the artist and then subjected to a violent event. What has happened to the objects? How has the process changed them?