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Millbank Penitentiary

Photo by Gareth Gardner

Millbank Penitentiary 1994
Wood, glass, aluminium, paint, lacquer
112 x 112 x 16 cm
Ipswich City Museum & Art Gallery, Ipswich

Millbank Penitentiary was a prison located in Millbank, Westminster, on the site now occupied by Tate Britain. It operated from 1816–1890 and was constructed on the site where Bentham’s proposed panopticon was originally going to be built. Although the panopticon plan was abandoned, the prison that was built demonstrates a centralised plan. However, instead of a guard at the centre, there was a chapel. In this way, the eye of God took the place of the eye of the guard, intending to instill religion into the prisoners and compel them to regulate their behaviour.

Museums in Motion

Photo by Gareth Gardner

Museums in Motion 1989
Wood, paint, glass, lacquer
77 x 322 x 13 cm (overall)
DJ Lockhart, London

This work is a triptych that depicts three different buildings using the elemental shapes of square, circle, and triangle. The circle forms the centre of the triptych, and inside this work is the plan of the panopticon. This is a type of prison building, and an accompanying system of control, which was designed by the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century. The idea behind the panopticon is that a single security guard positioned at the centre of the plan can observe all prisoners without the inmates being able to tell whether they are being watched. This compels prisoners to regulate their own behaviour. The other buildings in the triptych are Palladio’s Villa la Rotonda in Vicenza (square) and the Museum of Modern Art in Frankfurt by Hans Hollein (triangle).

Infinite Loop

Photo: Peter White

Infinite Loop 2014
Wood, aluminium, acrylic sheet, paint, lacquer
80 x 240 x 9 cm (overall)
The artists

This triptych depicts three buildings, each on a silver ground. The buildings shown are GCHQ (the Government Communications Headquarters) in Cheltenham (left); Osama bin Laden’s final house at Abbottabad, Pakistan, where he was discovered and killed; and Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California. In this work the artists were very interested in the way in which Osama bin Laden was traced through his communications.

What you'll need

• 1 cardboard box
• Scissors
• Glue stick & double-sided tape
• Pencil
• Mix of felt-tips & colouring pens
• Post-it notes
• 2-3 rubber bands

Step 1

Cut out three cardboard squares from your box (you'll need the other side for the wall of your Museum later.

These three squares are going to make stamps so you can make the windows and decoration of your post-it Museum!

Draw shapes on your cardboard - a frame, an arch and a sill with lines to divide a window into 3 sections of windowpanes.

Step 2

Onto your three drawings of window parts, cut some double-sided tape and put it onto the drawing. Peel off the sticky back!

Step 3

Cut the elastic bands.

Step 4

Stick the cut rubber bands onto the double-sided tape, following your drawing of the window parts.

Step 5

Use some waterbased felt-tips or brush pens to draw colour onto the rubber lines. If you have stamp pads you can use those too.

The rubber lines should be wet with ink - but don't worry, it's all part of the plan!

 

Step 6

After you've coloured the rubber window, now you can flip it and stamp onto a post-it note - printing the colour onto the post-it.

Now cut out the stamped window parts.

Step 7

Use glue or tape to stick down your stamped post it notes onto a big piece of cardboard, to make the windows of your post-it Museum!

Step 8

Use your favourite felt-tips and pens to draw onto the boxes any features & details you like! Sir John Soane was a big fan of ornament and decoration, so go crazy!