Alexander Luke Osborne – Prestige

I bet you are wondering, ‘What the hell is the Gallows all about’. Well, I will tell you…

I wanted to build a large piece of work for my Degree Show, ‘Spank’. Similar to my Rack, The Turn of the Screw…

The Turn of the Screw, 2013

I had the idea while I was in Hospital in February 2014. I was a complete wreck! I was still dealing with the Stroke side of things. If that is not enough, I found out a months earlier, that when the Hospital was scanning to find out where about the Stroke came from, they uncovered a large tumour the size of an orange. I felt my life was over, and I did not what to live anymore, hence the Gallows.  All the work I done with my right hand, before my Stroke, was gone, in my opinion.

It was in August 2014, and I did a sketch of what I wanted to make. I texted Richard Berry, who is a Carpenter that I work for, for about the year. He really liked the idea, and he said he would be on board to the idea. In about two months later, it was finished.

I wanted the audience to be in shock when they walk into the room. A massive timber structure which is big, heavy and tall, like myself before I had my Stroke. The Gallows, is me.

The theory behind the piece of Artwork:

The platform, is my life’s Medical history.

* Starting from the beginning when I had Leukemia, my hormone deficiency that I got the Radiotherapy knocked out my male growth hormone.

* I had braces for seven years and in which they had to break my jaw, to re-assemble it.

* My Stroke.

* My Stomach removal.

The bird shit, is just that! The Shit, on my life.

Thanks to the NHS, Millions of pounds has been spent on myself, keeping me alive. I realised, I was meant to be alive!

You will notice in the centre of the Gallows, were you would go through, there is a double glazed unit. The only two jobs I have ever had, was working for Richard Berry (who I have to thank for helping me build the Gallows), and working for my Dad’s business, Kirton Windows (double glazing).

One side of the glass is reinforced, which I plan on Smashing, which represents my Stroke. On the other side, is toughened glass. If I did not have my Stroke, I would of never of found my tumour.

You will notice one of the planks on the end, is different from the rest. It is Oak. Stronger and stronger I get, with each battle that I face…

Q: Hey Alex, how you been? Looks like you’ve lost a lot of weight…

A: Yeah, lost five and and a half Stone, mate.

Q: How did you do it?

A: Well, a year ago I had a massive Stroke and while there were scanning to find out where my where it happened, they found a tumour the size of an orange in my lower oesophagus. The plan was to remove  the lower oesophagus, and a little part of my Stomach. When I was in hospital, I was all excited to  that I could see the the tumour that has been living inside of me. I asks the Doctor if I could keep it. But when I wen’t under, there was a problem. The tumour has spread through out my Stomach. The whole Stomach had to be removed.

Q: Oh…

I have been a fan of Batman since I can remember. From an early age, if it had something to do with the Dark Knight, I was fascinated by it. Only till now when I look at at through my ‘Stroke‘ eyes, I can see some of the things that relate to my Stroke.

Here is a clip from the Batman (1989), that relates from that moment I actually had my Stroke in early December 2013. It shows The Joker spraying acid onto the bell, and him turning away while the acid eats away at the metal. Then,  all of a sudden the bell bell drops, and falls very slowly:

The acid, represents the trumour that my brain when’t through, and me urinating myself uncontrollably. The bell falling, is when I fell to the the floor. I did not know what was happening to me!

On the 4th of December I had my Stroke. As it was happening, I did not know what was happening to me. It felt like my body was drunk, was my mind was sober. It was about a week later that I realised what has happened to me. I have had a massive Stroke.

I wanted to recreate what was happening to my brain cells, and to me.

I got the wood for the project, two years ago from when I was working in the Snap Exhibition (2012), which I was going to use to make my Rack (The Turn of the Screw), but later I found out, that I did not have enough timer to make it.

Going forward to December 2014, I picked up a box full of car headlight bulbs for £10. I realised, this could be my next project. By drilling into the wood, I could fit the bulbs into the timber.

I cut a piece of spare  chipboard to about 800mm, and screwed the timber to it. I then cut of all the bit all wood that was hanging over the edge. Then it was a chase of drilling the holes, to fit the bulbs. I used silicone sealant, to firmly glue them into place.

You will notice some of the bulbs are burnt out: dead brain cells. But some brain cell are still active. If I had the money to do so, I would make the active brain cell light up. I am however, going to wrap wires around the active lights, missing the burned out ones.

This is to show how my brain was recovering from the Stroke: how when one brain cell is knocked out, another one is there to take its place.

March 2015.

My implantable loop recorder was inserted under local anaesthetic, in March 2015. It only hurt when the needle went into my chest to give the local anaesthetic injection. It lasted about half an hour, and was disappointed not to experience that relaxed, sedated feeling.

For three years the implant will be inside my chest, regulating my heart-beat. This will record any irregularities, if they are present. I am aware of it inside my chest, but it doesn’t hurt.

When I finish with my Fine Art course, I plan to find out what has caused my Stroke by monitoring my heart rate constantly. I will do this by using medical equipment from the Cardiology department at Ipswich Hospital. In three years time, if there is no findings from my loop recorder, then I don’t know what the cause could be. I think it could be quite beautiful if I don’t find out.

Mystery and my art being like a magic trick, have always been strong themes in my work. The cause being unknown would give the illusion that I have switched sides. Once I was the magician performing all types of illusions, now it feels that I have become part of the audience.