A charity auction with a difference is due to take place at Christie’s London 8 March: the Ash to Art sale includes works by 25 high-profile artists—including David Shrigley, Tacita Dean, Anish Kapoor and Jenny Saville—made from the debris of the Mackintosh library at the Glasgow School of Art which was tragically struck by a fire May 2014. “Each artist was sent a piece of debris specifically chosen for them with a note telling them what it was, where it was from and explaining the concept,” says a press statement. Scottish artist Douglas Gordon has made a burnt wood cast in bronze entitled A Given. “I was sent a small section of wood that came from the famous library in the building. It sat in my studio in Berlin, on my desk, next to a classic 1960s ashtray that a friend had given me—the irony,” he says. “And when I looked at the pieces of wood, I moved them slightly and realised that it was, indeed, a cross." Meanwhile, Grayson Perry’s contribution, an urn entitled Art is Dead, Long Live Art, contains charcoal from the ruins. The communications agency J. Walter Thompson and the Glasgow School of Art Development Trust are behind the benefit auction.
