Rachel Whiteread
Untitled (Slade Pinboard), 2018
Resin and Cement Compound (three panels)

This sculpture by artist and former Slade student Rachel Whiteread is one of two works commissioned for the UCL Student Centre when it opened in 2019, together with a digital installation by multidisciplinary duo Thomson & Craighead.

Here the artist describes in her own words how she came to make the sculpture:

"Having been a student at UCL where I studied for my masters in the mid-1980s, I was delighted when I was invited to make a permanently sited commission for the UCLStudent Centre on Gordon Street.

It became clear to me that I wanted to make an interpretation of something from the site of the Slade and transpose that into theStudent Centre. When looking around both sites, one of stuff and materials and the other of this new age of technology, I knew that I wanted to make a work that would confront that duality.

One of my overriding memories of the Slade was its archaic notice board at the bottom ofthe main staircase – a place where random notices from staff, students and the university were diligently displayed. It was a meeting place – a place for discussion and ideas.

This actual notice board has been interpreted and cast. I have made a ghost of a place that still exists in its materiality but as we move further into this technological age and the tools for teaching, thought and study, change; it will stand as a memorial to times past.” - Rachel Whiteread, London, 2018