Memory
Texto por NoéMie Schwaller
Zürich, Suiza
08.08.09
Technology, nature and tradition are all reflected in the sculpture 'Memory', which will be on display at this year's South African art festival 'AfrikaBurn'.
Shadows are an intrinsic part of the installations.
This is no accident; 'Technology-Nature-Tradition' is the name of the art collective from Cape Town which is behind the filigree plywood shape.
'Memory' is the third and latest in a series of sculptures which Technology-Nature-Tradition has created for the art event, following 'Turbine' (2007) and 'Wish' (2008) but representing further development in form and architecture.
The 21 ribs, each with eight layers of 6 mm plywood, are cold compression-moulded, laminated with water-tight glue and held together by structural steel elements. Thanks to the circular arrangement of the ribs the tunnel-shaped structure seems to have neither beginning nor end.
The construction is strong and yet quite sensitive, bits of it break off, and did so during construction, but were decided to be left, because memories aren’t perfect either.There's a DNA inside the piece, a repetitive code, and every now and then the code is damaged, those alterations are part of its history. It developed a couple of scars along the way. There were a few slight imperfections which where left as part of the story of its construction.
