Book Launch: The Night and the First Sculpture published by Folium

The Night and the First Sculpture (2024) is Alexander Mourant’s first publication, containing sculptures, performances and photographs, made on his family farm. Responding, firstly, to Robert Smithson’s Island of Broken Glass (1969/1970), the work evolved through playful, material-led exploration, to question the metaphysical nature of images and concepts of time, space and place.

Made under the cover of night, Mourant’s process was one of metaphorically imbuing and assembling agricultural materials – glass, wood and stone – in an attempt to materialise his own theories, often referencing novels, non-fiction, autobiography and mythologies. At its heart, The Night and the First Sculpture proposes how images and stories may form, erode and reshape themselves over time.

The Night and the First Sculpture includes an introduction by Alan Huck, and an in conversation with Eugenie Shinkle and Alexander Mourant.

Published by Folium, 2024.

Supported by ArtHouse Jersey