‘Curious Flat Pipes’ by Leo Plumb

Eerie and incomplete; Pictures and sculptures of running colours and bailing out the cellar. Curious Flat Pipes presents new sculptural works made from drawing, print and photography.

This research takes as its starting point, a desire to learn more about the powers that act upon an individual in urban environments. Why is touch such an important sense in industrial settings? By using the natural tendencies of ink and paper; saturation, repetition and repair become creative approaches to ask some related questions.

The exhibition title describes a recurring motif in the works: the ‘Lay-Flat Hose’ a heavy industry tool used in agriculture, construction, mining, and often associated with firefighting. These hoses are commonly used during floods to pump water from peoples homes. In Perth and Kinross and elsewhere in Scotland in 2023, seeing families pump out water and self-manage a recovery through these disasters became an influence in the development of this exhibition.

The imagery for these works shifts focus from details observed in Scottish cities, to much wider source material from film and international television news channels. This exhibition stages them in scenarios typical of the exterior world; like garden roofing or stacked grocery pallets.

Processes developed include D.I.Y poster-making techniques created by re-piloting a domestic inkjet printer so that the ink can be transferred by hand. As well as Chinese ink drawings and hurriedly assembled maquettes made with plastics. These spontaneous methods invite wider conversations about sustainability and liveability in cities as they elevate incomplete fragments from past projects including materials damaged during leaks.

A subtext in this exhibition is the prevalence of storms and floods around the world and the cultural response to these. The unequal distribution of resources and the environmental basis for such incidents should be a turning point this decade. With gratitude, these themes are explored comprehensively in Waters Rising an exhibition at Perth Museum which runs until 16 March 2025.

Leo Plumb is an artist based in Glasgow, his practice encompasses moving image, drawing and photography. Drawing on the economics of labour and urban environments, his imagery often shows places associated with recreation or work.

He studied at Glasgow School of Art, Leeds Metropolitan University and Estonian Academy of Arts and helped found Mexico Project Space, a curatorial group in Leeds from 2011-2014. This project responded to the the artists-led movement after the 2008 economic crash. He has presented collaborative works as Distance, Speed, Time with Celia Garcia, Julie Laing, Leila Smith and Sebastian Tay between 2015 – 2021. He has been an annual contributor and curator with Off Page a visual poetry project since 2022. The project will exhibit again at Many Studios in Glasgow in May 2025.