The Bleak Modernism of Jacob Epstein’s ‘Rock Drill’

Words by Otty Allum

I first came across Rock Drill in Antony Gormley’s book ‘On Sculpture’, Gormley emphasises the dynamic and subversive position that the sculpture held in the art world at the time, he describes it as ‘the body reconsidered as a machine’. What draws me to this piece is the way it seems to possess an innate power; it makes a very clear statement about the future of the human condition that I’m not sure even Epstein was fully aware of when he created it. Now the sculpture no longer exists in its original form, all that is left is a dispirited fragment and the mythology that surrounds it.

Torso in metal from the Rock Drill

Jacob Epstein was born in New York City in 1880, the son of Polish Jewish refugees. He moved to Paris in 1902, during this time a great deal of artwork was being imported from the French colonies in North and West Africa and was being displayed in the Louvre and the Musée de L’Homme. Throughout his whole career Jacob was heavily influenced by the ancient artworks of the people indigenous to Oceania, Africa and Asia. I feel that he was most drawn to how much these pieces differed from the cult of perfection that surrounded classical Greek and Roman sculpture, which still had a chokehold on the attitudes of the art world in Europe. Throughout his life his work was the subject of criticism, his work, expressive and raw, completely subverted the standard of prettiness that had come about with the popularityof Romanticism. The sexuality inherent within his work appalled the uptight audience of the early Twentieth century; the criticism he received often held a strong undertone of antisemitism. He was commissioned in 1912 to create a monument for the tomb of Oscar Wilde in Paris, he created an angel inspired by Assyrian sculpture which was considered indecent due to the angel’s nudity and was covered with a tarpaulin for two years.

The Tomb of Oscar Wilde

‘Rock Drill’ was constructed by Epstein between 1913 and 1915, around this period of time he was associated with the Vorticists; Rock Drill is considered a notable artwork of the movement, even though Epstein was never officially amember of the Vorticists. Vorticism was a short-lived modernist movement based in London, it officially began in 1914 and was quickly overshadowed by the looming presence of the First World War. Painter and writer Wyndham Lewis founded the movement to counteract the haughtiness of post-Victorian attitudes to art. The movement gained its name due to their preoccupation with the concept of the ‘vortex’, Lewis described this as ‘a whirlpool. At the heart of the whirlpool is a great silent place where all the energy is concentrated; there at the point of concentration is the Vorticist’. Unfortunately, Lewis had a reputation as a very unpleasant man, who had antisemitic and Fascist leanings.

The Mud Bath by the Vorticist painter David Bomberg, 1914

Rock Drill was created using a real rock drill from a Chicago company, it was used to drill through high quartzite granite to mine for precious minerals, meaning the sculpture is partially a ‘readymade’. The figure atop the drill was carved plaster, possibly originally sculpted in clay, cast, then recarved. It is evident in the figure’s form how he was influenced particularly by the work of ancient Oceanic indigenous people. The figure seems to wear a helmet or visor, its ribs are visible, as is the inside of the torso, reminiscent of Oceanic carvings. Whilst the figure in isolation could be a representation of a tribal warrior, the harsh geometry of the body and the odd protrusions of its arms and legs suggest that it is not meant to be a depiction of a human, but something beyond that; something robotic and mechanical. The rock drill becomes a distorted extension of the body; a destructive, mechanical phallus

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Carved Male Figure from Easter Island, 18th Century

The Original Rock Drill

People interpret Rock Drill in different ways. It is believed by some that Epstein created this work as an emblem of the triumphant industrial revolution and the mechanisation of industry. It is well known that Epstein held distain for the attitudes towards art that still remained after the Victorian era. Ideas such as Romanticism which emphasised individualism and Neoclassicism (which took inspiration from classical antiquity), didn’t really align with Epstein’s preoccupation with depicting the body in all its rawness and drawing inspiration from non-Western artwork. It would make sense that Epstein would want to create an artwork that completely shattered the traditions of his day, both visually and conceptually. Other people believe that he was making a comment on humanity’s ever-growing reliance on machines since the beginning of the industrial revolution, and how we had become one with the machines. I find the symbol of the probing, phallic drill an interesting one; whilst it alludes to procreation and thus progress and growth, it is also a tool of destruction, splitting the earth in two, reflecting the paradoxical compulsions to create and to destroy.

Red Stone Dancer by Henri Gaudier-Brezeska, 1913

I think its clear that Epstein wished for the sculpture to be dynamic and subversive, this is very clear from his preliminary sketches for the artwork which portrayed the sculpture with lines of energy surrounding it. However, maybe his commentary on society’s newfound reliance on machines was too honest or possessed too bleak a picture of the future. In 1915, a fellow sculptor and friend of Epstein’s, Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, was killed in the war by a machine gun; this occupied Epstein’s thoughts when he too enlisted in the army in 1917. This event led Epstein to disassemble his Rock Drill; his eyes had been opened to the destructive power of machinery, especially used in conjunction with war. Epstein was further traumatised by the death of his friend, the poet T.E.Hulme, in September 1917 and was eventually discharged from the army in 1918 following a breakdown. All that remains of the piece is the torso cast in bronze; Torso, which is on display at the Tate Britain, surrounded by other works by the Vorticist movement. A reconstruction was created in 1974 by Ken Cook and Ann Christopher, it is now in the collection of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery.

Reproduction of the Rock Drill, 1974

Once Epstein realised that Rock Drill represented the horrors of mechanised war and humanity’s reliance on machinery, he said “Here is the armed, sinister figure of today and tomorrow. No Humanity, only the terrible Frankenstein’s monster we have made ourselves into . . .”. To me this piece is timeless and prophetic, whilst visually striking it is assertive in its message, a message that is still relevant to this day.