The starting point of their work is often a borrowed image, as much from the reserves of a collection or a hunted schoolbook as from what remains of their upbringing as a misunderstanding or a memory.
The Planet Man sculpture, presented on the museum's forecourt, questions the way in which the figure of the man is used to convey knowledge to children, the anthropomorphic perspective giving human form to numbers, vegetables and planets. The work, an unlikely object made up of eight planets, humorously caricatures the role of art and pedagogy in transmitting concepts.
Bevis Martin & Charlie Youle. Planet Man, 2012. Photo credit: Rebecca Fanuele