An Inn For Phantoms Of The Outside And In
An Inn For Phantoms Of The Outside And In (2019) is a major outdoor commission by Scottish artist Martin Boyce, installed within the landscaped grounds of Mount Stuart. The work occupies the site of a long-dismantled tennis court and draws heavily on Boyce's ongoing interest in abandoned, disused, and in-between spaces. Inspired by the memory of this former court, the installation reimagines the area as a kind of ghost architecture, where sculptural fragments evoke both presence and absence.
Constructed using painted perforated stainless steel, galvanised and mild steel, chain-link fencing, timber, gravel, and other industrial materials, the work forms a skewed, dreamlike environment. Boyce arranges objects that resemble furniture, lighting, fencing, and architectural remnants, yet each element resists full functionality. A table that is not a table; a curtain that is not a curtain; a fireplace with no fire. These "almost not there" objects generate the sense of a place suspended between memory and imagination.
The installation continues Boyce's broader exploration of modernist architecture, film noir atmosphere, and cultural memory. At Mount Stuart, the work sits open to visitors, encouraging a quiet drift through its layered references, suggesting past activity, shifting use over time, and the poetic persistence of structures long after their original purpose has faded.
Constructed using painted perforated stainless steel, galvanised and mild steel, chain-link fencing, timber, gravel, and other industrial materials, the work forms a skewed, dreamlike environment. Boyce arranges objects that resemble furniture, lighting, fencing, and architectural remnants, yet each element resists full functionality. A table that is not a table; a curtain that is not a curtain; a fireplace with no fire. These "almost not there" objects generate the sense of a place suspended between memory and imagination.
The installation continues Boyce's broader exploration of modernist architecture, film noir atmosphere, and cultural memory. At Mount Stuart, the work sits open to visitors, encouraging a quiet drift through its layered references, suggesting past activity, shifting use over time, and the poetic persistence of structures long after their original purpose has faded.
