'Cast,' Anya Gallaccio
Materials: Acorns: Quercus Robur and Quercus Rubra; one unique cast bronze acorn; box.Size: 6 x 6 x 2.3 inches.Edition: 35

"Cast" brings together a handful of real English acorns and one unique cast bronze acorn in a box specially produced by BookWorks for the project. The buyer is invited to plant the acorns for the future, keep them to dry out and die or throw them away, leaving only the cast acorn. "Cast" has both the association with throwaway culture and that of permanence.

In 2002 Anya Gallaccio installed seven felled oak trees in the monumental space of the Duveen Galleries at Tate Britain. Stripped of their branches but with their bark intact these powerful structures continued Gallaccio's dialogue between "nature" and "culture", "permanence" and "ephemerality".

The English oak tree symbolises tradition, permanence and value. The oak doesn't even reach its prime until it is at least 100 years old. This association of the oak with the long-term - much longer than human life - contrasts markedly with the short-term nature of contemporary life.

ARTISTS INFO:

Scottish artist Anya Gallaccio was shortlisted for the Turner Prize 2003.

She has had recent solo shows at Camden Arts Centre (2008), Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, Thomas Dane Gallery, London (2007), Lehmann Maupin Gallery, New York, the Centro Arte Contemporanea, Siena and the Sculpture Center, Long Island (2006).

Her work is featured in numerous public and private collections such as the Tate Gallery, the Victoria & Albert Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, and South London Gallery, London.