FELIPE DE ÁVILA FRANCO

Futures in Display, 2019-21

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The sprawling heaps of construction and industrial refuse, diverse in their origins, scattered across the globe, spawn a plethora of contaminations, each distinct in its manifestation and intensity, courtesy of the myriad substances entrenched within these materials. This phenomenon, beyond merely constituting an urgent and intricately tangled socio-environmental dilemma, heralds a paradigmatic shift in temporality. Modern industrial detritus possesses a peculiar quality of endurance and omnipresence, steadfastly resisting degradation and pervading even the remotest corners of our world. This prompts profound contemplation: what does it truly mean to dwell within a realm perpetually tainted by contamination?

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Nevertheless, within the moment of encounter with these materials, there exists a phenomenological eloquence, wherein they unveil themselves as potent catalysts for dialogues, liberating us from orthodox paradigms that delineate the human-non-human relationship. Moreover, these materials serve as poignant translators, elucidating how unchecked industrial endeavors engender forms of decay, crafting architectural relics that reshape our conception of what lies ahead. Transformed by the action of the climate and time, these once-functional structures are now transfigured from simple object-residues into artifacts which, beyond mere debris and remains, "portray and manifest the consummated revolt of nature".

Prosaic objects become signs of history, which have to be deciphered. So the poet becomes not only a naturalist or an archaeologist, excavating the fossils and unpacking their poetic potential, he also becomes a kind of symptomatologist, delving into the dark underside or the unconscious of a society to decipher the messages engraved in the very flesh of ordinary things. (The Aesthetic Revolution and its Outcomes - Jacques Ranciere)

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The installation unfolds as a sequence of glass encasements, each gathering an array of unearthed treasures: discarded mechanical remnants, fragments of construction, weather-worn bones, driftwood weathered by the elements, and stones sculpted by time's patient hand. Accompanying these are diminutive sculptures, forged from contaminated residues melded with conventional sculpting mediums like cement and plaster. Following a quasi-forensic ritual, these glass sanctuaries serve a dual purpose: shielding and segregating the objects within, almost affirming their reclassified identity as eerie relics. They offer visual access, yet withhold the privilege of recognition, shrouding their origins in mystery.

 

These mysterious objects may come from distant places, but they all share one thing: they belong to a world tainted by contamination. Collected over a span of two years, from 2019 to 2021, these materials were gathered from various sites across Northern Europe, where industrial activities or environmental disasters have left their mark.