Standing stone

Hoc pro spiritu levando statui

Menhir made of Kinder Millstone Grit, 2004
h.228cm, w.50cm, d.50cm.

The inscription translates as I set this up for the lightening (relief) of the spirit.

Standing a stone on end is both a spiritual and a secular process, and represents a very elemental sculptural act, perhaps the first sculptural statement by Mankind. The wording here is ambiguous, suggesting the sense of relief felt after creating something and also the more religious act of worship. This is enhanced by its rendering into Latin where the word spiritu can refer to the soul or suggest inspiration, and levando which can mean to relieve or to lighten. The stone can be seen in the atrium of Southampton University’s archaeology department.