Assemblage

Willie Cole: Portrait of the Artist as the Upcycler

A graduate of the School of Visual Arts, New York – artist, sculptor Willie Cole‘s body of work is a sign of our times, where traditions of assemblage/construction not only meets sculptural integrity but also holds up a discerning mirror to cultures of relentless consumption and wastefulness in the swirl of industrial capitalism. To quote Tatlin:”The material formation of the object is to be substituted for its aesthetic combination. The object is to be treated as a whole and thus will be of no discernible ‘style’ but simply a product of an industrial order like a car, an aeroplane and such like.” (from the LEF journal, 1923.) Read More…

Jeremy Mayer: Typewriter assemblage sculpture

Oakland, USA, based Jeremy Mayer is a typewriter freak, and not in the expected manner of collecting vintage typewriters and restoring them to functionality, polishing and burnishing them to be stored in a personal museum of sorts. He does the opposite. He takes them apart – but with the sole intention of putting them back together in staggeringly imaginative sculptural articulations. I have a distinct affinity towards acts of purposeful and creative recycling, or in this case, re-assemblage, via which industrial produce that has lived its perceived utility and is discarded (considered ‘junk’) is put to use again in creative and imaginative ways. Mayer is an exceptional talent, for he uses no solders and welds, but works entirely with manual, and some might say, old fashioned tools, like the screwdriver and the pliers. If you have ever used typewriters, here is an opportunity to appreciate them, from a different perspective. Take a look.

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