Daniel Blom at Bell-Roberts Contemporary
By Kim Gurney
Daniel Blom's 'The Ship of Things/ Study for Scribe' is compelling in particular for its use of materials. The sculptures, primarily of melted plastic, appear marble-like from a distance and give a tortuous fleshy appearance on closer inspection. The combination with found wood and other materials like builder's foam is also intriguing. What lets this promising installation down is the presentation.
The first figure lies alone in a room upstairs at the Bell-Roberts Contemporary Art Gallery. Representing the Tropic of Capricorn, the line to cross to enter the Southern Seas, the sculpture is half cut and melted plastic (for the head and torso) and half wood (fishtail lower section). Hand-written text on the wall says the wood represents tradition and structure while the plastic represents endurance and advance. A wooden horn emerges from the head.
Next door, four more sculptures complete the exhibition in a separate series called The Ship of Things: the architect, the oarsman, the lover and historian. Handwritten text on the wall again describes the significance of each. These frustrating explanations are all somewhat turgid, however, and clarity behind the concept remains elusive.
The artist's statement continues in this vein. Blom says these four archetypal figures contribute to 'the peculiar infusion of conquest' and assist with self-conscious struggle: �Defined and differentiated, they help defy the process of destruction, enabling the ship to devour its own history and potential threat.�
Each sculpture is a naked man, slightly larger than life-size, standing one next to the other � save for the historian at the end who lies crumpled. Each successive figure appears to rise slightly further off his feet and the proportions of each body are altered, suggesting different characters. Each figure is impaled on a metal rod for support.
The installation immediately recall Jane Alexander's Butcher Boys at the South African National Gallery, with its shared grotesque fusion of human and beast though without the same fastidious attention to form.
First up is the architect, who 'navigates or imprints objective � directs greed after morality and purpose' and he stands as if in command. The oarsman is 'the aggressor', who 'through employment is sad no more'. His lips hang in dumb expression. But as with every other figure he has no arms and employment is hard to imagine for this practitioner. Why are his eyes plastered over with white plastic? And why are 12 wooden penises emerging down his spinal column? A perplexing character who elicits many unanswered questions.
The third sculpture, the lover, 'does not fear but believes' and appears to embody a more ethereal spirit. The final collapsed figure of the historian, 'the selective obsessor � often flung over' is indeed left in his crumpled state.
Light sources on the floor cast strong and effective shadows onto the wall. Together with the handwritten text, these presentation devices are insufficient to prevent the sculptures appearing somewhat abandoned in the space. The concept and meaning behind the installation is also unclear, though this is perhaps less problematic because the material is so beguiling and speaks for itself. The visceral quality invoked by the raw surface and melted plastic is powerful and evocative.
Blom works from Cape Town and Amsterdam. In 2003 he exhibited 'the Four Last Things' at Pyg-malion in Amsterdam and in 2002 a sculptural exhibition at the same venue.
Opened: June 1
Closed: June 25
Bell-Roberts Contemporary Art Gallery, 89 Bree Street, Cape Town
Tel: 021 422 1100
Fax: 021 423 3135
Email: suzette@bell-roberts.com
Website: www.bell-roberts.com
Hours: Mon-Fri 8.30 � 5.30, Sat 10am-2pm
