THE SAATCHI GALLERY - THE SHAPE OF NEW THINGS TO COME: NEW SCULPTURE

The Shape of New Things to Come: New Sculpture is very much – as the title of the exhibition itself might suggest – a kind of harbinger to our future. As such, these works of art seem to underline the essence of this sentence from Marshall McLuhan,

“The artist has the power to discern the current environment created by the latest technology.”

(Through the Vanishing point, 1968, Preface)

The artists’ works are numerous but my analysis of a few of them will help to showcase the essence of the exhibition.

iType (2005) by Wiyoga Muhardanto, is such a work which goes to the heart of our present day technological feat and luxury, even so in a very simple way. The work comprises of a vintage typewriter inserted within an 88 x 39.5 x 39.5 box made of plywood and plexiglass, and embossed with the Apple logo. The very first look of it is sleek, clean, smooth, and tingling to our sense of touch, recreating in a way our current love syndrome for the Apple appliances which flood the market. Though at the time the artwork was made (2005) it was only to do with Apple’s new laptop and the latter was not so established as it is now, nevertheless, the work remains thought-provoking.

Muhardanto induces a play of contrasts as he includes a vintage typewriter into the ‘Apple’ setting. It is all nicely set and tidy as if it were part of the appliance itself and this has, for a moment, a trompe l’oeil effect upon the viewer; one may think it’s a genuine Apple product there. Simple but striking, this visual juxtaposition of the old and the new seems to indicate to us a reality – just as the typewriter no longer matters once new technologies have emerged, the now glorified ‘Apple’ technologies will one day become obsolete in face of other technologies and become the ‘typewriter’ of a future age. Hence iType becomes an irony in itself and even puts into questions our notion of technological luxury, a notion which is always in flux.

Then there is David Altmejd’s shocking work, The Healers (2008). The work comprises of nude figures all around, in erotic poses, conveying sexual pleasure. The work is complicated, so much so that the viewer knows not who is seducing whom or who is victim or aggressor. Having an overall dimension of 239 x 367 x 367, the figures are all crude –being made of foam plaster, burlap, wire and paint – and the colours have a repelling and cold effect (instead of the usual warmth of the passion associated with sexual activity). Technically speaking, Altmejd’s use of colour is intense for the middle figures and it gradually drains and recedes into blank whiteness. The same goes for the sculpture arrangement: it’s a central peak which flows downwards. This suggests intense passion which slowly fades until it is no more than an act without sentiment or concern; it becomes carnal and nothing more.

 Each figure seems to be linked to one another by some sexual act or the other, suggesting, maybe, the uncontrollable sexual urge and infidelity of the modern era. The metamorphosis aspect of the work – the winged figure and the innumerable hands creeping all over – gives off a wild feeling. Furthermore there is the motif of hands which is dominant, enhancing this sense of touch which is the basis of sex. A multi-partner union – ghastly but a union nonetheless – is formed. Altogether there is this altercation of freedom and a clinging sex life. In the end, we muse, are The Healers really healers?

Hence we find how these two artists have been successful in creating strong works which mark us, though their mediums of doing so, styles and concerns are very different. But what brings both works on the same track is the fact that both sculptures are indicating to us ‘the shape of new things to come’.