Cementa and Toyota are two sculpted sisters located in the industrial landscape of the Malmö harbor. They reside at the waters edge on the last strip of public land amidst a large depot of imported cars and a colossal cement silo. These two site-specific sculptures, one cast in concrete — the other moulded in HDPE plastic from the area, contemplate on their situation, vaguely aware of the synthetic, artificial nature of themselves and their surroundings.
In the exhibition at ACUD gallery a film about these two sister sculptures will be shown alongside the works themselves, Drifter, Biofoul and Residuals / Age of Shiny.
About
Drifter - which also serves as a bench for watching the film - is made of concrete and a car shock absorber, Residuals / Age of Shiny are the residues - or mutant sisters - of the creation process of Cementa and Toyota and Biofoul consists of a stack of vegetable crates filled with apples for the audience. What unifies all these sculptures is that their material was found on site - an artificial stretch of land built out of rubble and contaminated waste in Malmö harbor.
The two sisters remind us of carved figureheads used as guardian spirits at the prow of old sailing ship, but their positioning on the waterfront seemingly also mocks the romanticism of the little mermaid - the famous tourist attraction positioned on the other side of the Oresund in Copenhagen.
Toyota and Cementa are the last in a line of Matti Sumaris humoristic-melancholic quest to come to terms with a mankind which is constantly alienating itself more and more from its surroundings and leaving behind nothing but waste.
In past exhibitions such as (The Logic of) Instruments For Cycles Through A Hunter-Gatherer-Gardener Matti Sumari applied a techno-archaic logic to build out of discarded bicycles found in Umea-river a mobile quick composter to compost organic garbage and grow on it flax for oil and mattresses, he reuses now with Cementa and Toyota the debris of the industrial landscape to imagine a futuristic trash-animism, both times applying premodern mindsets to the man-made and controlled environment of today.
Organized by Johannes Braun
Cementa & Toyota – A Fable of Two Sisters, 2016. HD video, 08.51min. Drifter, plaster, 2017. plastic shock absorber, wood
Biofoul, 2017. plastic, apples from Mellersta Hamnen
Residuals / Age of Shiny, 2016-2017. concrete, plastic, brass, stone
Matti Sumari
Born 1987 in Helsinki, Finland
Lives and works in Malmö, Sweden
Artist and coordinator at the artist-run exhibition space Alta Art Space in Malmö, Sweden