The World’s Largest Wargaming Table
The World’s Largest Wargaming table, an installation by Timothy Hutchings, is now on display at the i-20 gallery. (June 27 – August 11, 2007)
From the i-20 website:
Timothy Hutchings has created The World’s Largest Wargaming Table, an installation stretching throughout the gallery that comments on history and technology, abstraction and site, while pondering the subject of war and hobbies. Hutchings’s installation is a functional super-sized war game table (400 square feet), made of MDF, wood and carved styrofoam, that complies with mapping criteria and can be used by serious game players: a working surface for soldier figurines governed by battle rules.
We went and checked it out last night and this thing is really impressive. Both Andrew (the old ball and chain) and I were commenting on our excitement over art work that creates an environment (especially an imaginary one.) To see such a large area of a what is ultimately a miniaturized space is really exciting. And, while it is very detailed in it’s landscape, from the texture of the rocky outcroppings to the slopping of the hills or the incline of the volcano, it is ultimately a blank canvas for the game play and the interaction of the players - and who knows what will happen there; Triumph, victory, defeat, sacrifices to octopus gods, strategic maneuvers, followed by superior strategic out-maneuvers…