Ruth Ewan

Sculpture - Shortlisted 2012

History is a pivotal theme for Ruth Ewan. “I am interested in viewing history not as a remote past but as alive, connected to the present and latent with ideas for a possible future.”
She explores this theme through works that are diverse in form, including drawing, sculpture, events and installation. She also engages others in the creation of her work: historians, activists, school children, musicians and composers.
We Could Have Been Anything That We Wanted to Be is a site specific work in which ten public clocks around Folkestone were changed to display decimal time, where the day is divided into ten new hours. The project was inspired by a failed experiment in decimal time during the French Revolution and was very well received by locals and the media. Ewan was also invited to speak about her installation at the Royal Observatory Greenwich and the Science Museum.

Branke & Heckle at Dundee Contemporary Arts was an exhibition of works that reflected aspects of the city’s radical history. Some of her other work – such as A Jukebox of People Trying to Change the World – also features music and its potential as an agent for social change. Last year, Ewan created a public tour, artist’s book and sculpture, Anti-Bell, that looks at Loughborough’s history as a site of bell production since the 14th century.
Now Ewan is ready to explore new horizons. “My most recent practice has seen a shift in focus from music-based projects to explore an interest in radical and feminist history.”
History is a pivotal theme for Ruth Ewan. “I am interested in viewing history not as a remote past but as alive, connected to the present and latent with ideas for a possible future.”
She explores this theme through works that are diverse in form, including drawing, sculpture, events and installation. She also engages others in the creation of her work: historians, activists, school children, musicians and composers.

We Could Have Been Anything That We Wanted to Be is a site specific work in which ten public clocks around Folkestone were changed to display decimal time, where the day is divided into ten new hours. The project was inspired by a failed experiment in decimal time during the French Revolution and was very well received by locals and the media. Ewan was also invited to speak about her installation at the Royal Observatory Greenwich and the Science Museum.

Branke & Heckle at Dundee Contemporary Arts was an exhibition of works that reflected aspects of the city’s radical history. Some of her other work – such as A Jukebox of People Trying to Change the World – also features music and its potential as an agent for social change. Last year, Ewan created a public tour, artist’s book and sculpture, Anti-Bell, that looks at Loughborough’s history as a site of bell production since the 14th century.

Now Ewan is ready to explore new horizons. “My most recent practice has seen a shift in focus from music-based projects to explore an interest in radical and feminist history.”