MODULAR ACRYLIC INSTALLATION
I spent the last few years mostly creating concrete sculptures. The Romeo & Juliet set design project I collaborated on in 2019 brought me a very fundamental question: how can I scale up my work? The question arose at the beginning of the project because it was quite obvious that casting a 6 meter tall concrete structure on a stage was out of the question. Considering all the time-budget constraints, we decided to go for the straightforward option of building it the classic plywood & paint set decor way.
The final result was great and very convincing, but the question remained. About two years later, when ECCO Leather contacted me to do a large-scale concrete (?) installation, it was time to answer that question. It didn’t have the same magnitude as R & J project, but would still have weighted a few tons if it were built in concrete, which would have been rather unrealistic. The idea was to make an art installation representative of my work as well as a product display.
Store Installation
After some thinking, I proposed scaling up the paper assemblage designs I was exploring during the lockdown months. We can find classic arches, stairs and modularity in a lot of my previous works, but the use of reflective and transparent smoked acrylic adds a whole new level of abstraction. The perception of the piece changes as you walk around or when the surrounding space activity and lighting changes, especially when photographed in a neutral environment. It looks ethereal, almost immaterial, hence the title “Digital Architecture.”
The installation was set up as one large 1200 x 2400 x 800 mm piece and three smaller 1200 x 800 x 800 mm pieces. It was exhibited in ECCO Montreal’s flagship store on Ste-Catherine Street in Sept- Nov, 2021
Cardboard study Models
The modular nature of the project allows for many different layouts. To help me with this giant puzzle, I laser cut miniature cardboard replicas of the pieces. The cardboard models are used afterwards as installation guides to set up the selected designs.
RELATED POSTS
Different and modified layouts were exhibited in these shows:
Vernaculaire Extraordinaire, Art Mûr Gallery, Montreal, January-February 2022
Primitives, OSA Gallery, Ottawa, October 2022
Through the Lattice, Surrey Art Center, Surrey (BC), January-March 2023
