Giant fossil sculpture as big as a HOUSE to be unveiled on Milton Keynes estate

An eight metre tall fossil sculpture is to become the latest public artwork in MK.
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Commissioned by Milton Keynes Council, artists Something & Son are building the mammoth sculpture on Oxley Park.

Called Future Fossil, the artwork takes the form of a local, suburban home which has fossilised through the passage of time, decaying from the inside out and leaving behind an imprint of the Anthropocene era.

It stands at eight metres tall and is a life-size replica of the remnants of a typical home in 10,000 years' time.

The giant fossilThe giant fossil
The giant fossil

"The work prompts questions, discussion and activities, inviting us to reimagine our coexistence with nature in a time of human dominance and crucially asking, in 10,000 years what will be left behind?" say the artists.

The sculpture is made from recycled plastics merged with eco-concrete – the materials of our age – embedded

with seeds which will grow over time.

It is designed to evolve and slowly take its form, both in its adoption by nature and its use by visitors. It will also be a stage for people to use and a space for a new ecological environment to grow.

Future Fossil scultpureFuture Fossil scultpure
Future Fossil scultpure

There will be an ongoing public programme of events and running at the same time as a series of digital events throughout the year.

Already people aged 16 to 25 are invited to submit a proposal for a one-day event to take place at the site of the fossil in early autumn 2021. The event will be the culmination of a summer training programme of production mentoring and development with artists and producers. Other activities happening in spring and early summer 2021 include walks and talks, time capsules, art packs, and projects involving local schools.

Once the artists have finished, the sculpture will be handed to the local community with a Friends of the Fossil group developing future activities.

Andy Merritt from Something & Son said: "We often play around with everyday experiences and provide people with a platform in our work. For Future Fossil we’ve taken the idea of our work providing a platform quite literally – the sculpture is a stage for people to use whilst also providing space for a new ecology to grow.

"Most of our works have a door so we can open and shut the project – Future Fossil will be completely open for people to use and, like many of our other projects, it’s crucial for the local community to have ownership. We wanted the sculpture to start to bring people and nature closer together in a simple way: to build a house for all."

Fiona Boundy, public art commissioner for Milton Keynes Council Culture, said: "We are so pleased to launch the latest addition to MK’s well-known and loved public art collection which is symbolic of the city.

"This latest sculpture, Future Fossil, not only builds on but challenges the conventional idea of a static sculpture, producing an artwork which brings communities together and asks crucial questions in a time when communities have been separated most."

The programme of activites around the fossil begins with a virtual discussion series, the Future Fossil Spring

Talks Series (late January to late April 2021), inviting a global audience to join artists, academics, researchers, activists, architectural theorists, writers and ecologists in exploring the ideas and themes of the project.

More information about Future Fossil is here .