Sebastian halfway down
2011, silver anodized aluminum pipes, marbles, textile, paper
Galerie Mario Iannelli, Berlin, 2011
The work Sebastian halfway down departs from the architectural structures present within the exhibition space: a former industrial room, in which massive, well-detectable supporting elements as pillars, beams and walls alternate with posthumous architectural interventions made out of plasterboard. In clear contrast to the original architecture, those elements expose their fragility. The gallery space is located within Neukölln – an area in which fast-growing square meters’ value and gentrification have dominated. Therefore, many industrial buildings underwent internal restorations to become more appetitive on the market. The work Sebastian halfway down refers to the fast-growing context by highlighting its fragile unstable premises, dominated by blown up, constantly on the edge, fluctuating economies.
In direct dialogue with the main pillar of the gallery space, the work elliptically uses the biblical martyr of San Sebastian as a figurative reference. A physical confrontation between materials takes place moving mostly unidirectionally. Aluminium tubes pierce the central wall of the gallery, behind the main pillar, reaching the large windows of the adjacent room. In an interplay of pressure between marble and glass the tubes act in holding them together. A confrontation between solid and fragile takes place again, translating into the space of the structural discrepancy between bricks and plasterboard. Once trespassed the plasterboard the metal tubes move on towards the windows where marble and glass oppose each other with unequal forces.
Exhibition:
Unbearable dissertation on a broken line, Galerie Mario Iannelli, Berlin, 2011