Perculium Ferulaeum [The Pushing Stick] 2013
hand-carved wood, varnish and rubber thimblette [size 1 17mm], 12x2x3cm, fabricated by Philip Lyddon
Originally conceived of and fabricated by Philip Lyddon, a chronic arthritis sufferer, Perculium ferulaeum, or, the pushing stick was originally a simple tool to aid in the task of flushing a toilet with a difficult press-button. Hand-carved from a stick [found in a local park] and a blue thimblette [used in clerical and financial offices usually for counting money], this utilitarian invention inaugurated further projects by Kate Lyddon, including a series of paintings, and collaborative projects with other artists, which took the motif as a starting point. The stick has since become a repeated motif in Lyddon's pratice, underpinning wider fictional narratives which expand upon it's many and varied connotations.
