BLANCHE TILDEN PLAYS WITH THE FORMS OF INDUSTRIAL MODERNITY IN IMPECCABLE WORKS ASSEMBLED FROM PURPOSE-MADE GLASS AND METAL COMPONENTS. OFTEN THESE ARE LONG SINUOUS CHAINS INVOKING THE IMAGERY OF MASS PRODUCTION: ONE THINKS OF FACTORY PRODUCTION, ASSEMBLY LINES, BIKE CHAINS, EVEN THE WAY THESE PROCESSES AND OBJECTS MATCH THE EXACT PASSING OF MECHANICAL TIME.
YET THE EFFECT OR EMOTIONAL IMPACT OF THESE SHINY, PERFECTLY MANUFACTURED ELEMENTS IS FAR MORE AMBIGUOUS. WHILE THEY SEEM REMOVED FROM HUMAN INTERVENTION, EACH PART IS LOVINGLY CRAFTED, AND SOMETHING OF THEIR EMOTIONALLY REMOTE PERFECTION SPEAKS OF NOSTALGIA FOR A MECHANICALLY ORDERED VIEW OF THE UNIVERSE. WITH TILDEN’S LONG POETIC MEDITATION IN METAL AND GLASS, WHICH SPEAKS TO THE FUNDAMENTAL ROLE OF MACHINES IN MODERNITY, HER CHAINS LITERALLY ARTICULATE CIRCULARITY.