James Capper b. 1987

In autumn 2024, James Capper presented his new solo display MONITOR at the Royal Academy of Arts, showcasing the prototype for a major new sculpture project alongside recent artist drawings and a specially commissioned short documentary film. Held in the Architecture Window of The Ronald and Rita McAulay Gallery, MONITOR was commissioned by the Ukrainian arts foundation in exile, IZOLYATSIA, and is designed to serve as a nomadic studio for visiting artists in Kyiv. The project is a collaboration between Capper, designer Thomas Pearce, and architect Greg Storrar, continuing Capper's exploration of creating operational sculptures. The centerpiece of the exhibition was an eight-metre-long mobile sculpture with four hydraulic legs, inspired by reptilian movement, capable of navigating difficult terrains such as water and ice. A full-scale prototype of the structure’s wall, created using advanced robotic technology, was on display, demonstrating how the mobile studio could be used by artists to conduct expeditions and creative work in challenging environments.

The idea for MONITOR originated during Capper’s residency with IZOLYATSIA in Kyiv in 2018. Initially intended to explore the terrains surrounding the Dnieper River and Kyiv’s industrial areas, the project evolved after the Russian invasion in 2022 to reflect the need for mobile, resilient creative spaces. The design incorporates Capper's interest in human-machine interaction and biomimicry. The prototype’s walls feature integrated tools and furniture, making the structure a multifunctional space for artists. IZOLYATSIA and the MONITOR team are working to develop the project further, aiming to offer satellite studios to support the creative rebuilding of communities in Ukraine.

Inspired by the movement of insects and evolution of vertebrae in walking species, Capper uses his ability as a steel fabricator and mobile hydraulics engineer to make sculptures that walk across landscapes. Their hydraulic systems hum into action, animated by complex problem-solving strategies and an artist driven not just to create but to understand.

And now to Broken Hill, Australia’s longest running mining town, where Capper’s sculptures navigate the outback—which you’ll see projected on the gallery wall and feel in the dirt beneath your feet—in a film made in collaboration with Australian filmmaker Alexander George. Here is a landscape and community shaped by mineral extraction, confronting our chequered history of industrial innovation, and ultimately, the cost of progress and an uncertain future. Capper draws inspiration from all over: from 450-million-year-old fossil footprints of creatures walking between freshwater pools in Western Australia, shedding light on how life transitioned out of the ocean and onto land; to Broken Hill’s cinematic terrain, from Mad Max to Wake in Fright; and even an ‘artificial cow’ that would carry food for an army on the move, built by Chinese commander Zhu Ge-Liang almost 1800 years ago.