The Death of Socrates Play Set: Work in Progress

The Death of Socrates Playset is a developing project that started in early 2023. The title directly refers to the painting by Jacques-Louis David, from 1787 which now hangs in the Metropolitan Museum, New York. The painting itself is arguably one of the most important works of art to have exemplified the French Enlightenment’s fascination with ancient Athens, with its portrayal of the last episode in the life of Western civilization’s first acknowledged moral philosophers.

My own version however, suggests a divergent revision, with very little adherence to historical or factual accuracy and a cast of over one hundred characters that not only include those figures who were present at Socrates’ death, but time-travelling aristocracy from Edwardian Staffordshire, entrepreneurial Baltic ship designers and disgraced Glam Rock musicians.

The full body of work will include large and small paintings and various smaller works on paper. The centrepiece however will consist of a substantial architectural installation covering a footprint of 45m2 (roughly 5 x 9m) and built from a mixture of new and reclaimed materials in a style that pays homage to and Dada sculpture and early 20th century Constructivism. The architecture will accommodate a series of up to twelve dioramas, each containing miniature sets and hand-made figurines of varying proportions; from mouse to human-size.