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Cash, Clash & Climate - MASLEN & MEHRA
All the sculptures in this series are hand-made by Maslen & Mehra using wire, paper-mâché and decoupage. Multiple visits to the Victoria & Albert and British Museums, London; Mares Museum Barcelona the Metropolitan Museum, New York; the Archaeological Museum, the Turkish and Islamic Art Museum, Istanbul; and the Asian Museum of Civilization in Singapore inform this work. The narratives of each original plate are altered to highlight a variety of ideas tied to each theme.
Cash: For this collection the works explore bailouts, credit culture, money made from war, tampon tax, housing bubbles, natural capital, the commodification of food staples and the almost religious status that money has reached in our times. Clash: Social unrest from Istanbul to Athens, the use of social media to organize protests, the charged debate concerning gun control and gun rights in the US and even the London riots of 2011 feature. Climate: This theme loosely covers environmental topics such as chronic pollution as a heavy cost for economic power in China, melting ice caps, the opposing views of climate change, the legacy of radiation from Japans nuclear disaster and the untimely death of a sperm whale in Spain from ingesting 17kg of plastics generated for British and European supermarkets.
'For me, the most spectacular moments of thought were created by a collection of plates. A nostalgic medium usually created in ceramics, but in this case recreated in papermache in the hands of Maslen and Mehra, they are transformed into a sinister community reflective tool addressing the political, cultural and moral decisions we make and how they may be addressed as historical artefacts or moments in time. Almost mocking the way in which we now live compared to our past, they highlight our obsession with money, power and possessions.' Ruth Page The Upcoming
Cash, Clash & Climate - installation views and mock-ups
Climate - sculpture installation
MASLEN & MEHRA in collaboration with street artists Shuby and Delete
Towner Contemporary Art 2016
Sculptures in the Climate series: http://www.voidgallery.com/climate.htm
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Connected
MASLEN & MEHRA
50cm x 50cm x 5cm
Sculpture installation: wire, paper-mache, and collaged archival photo. Shelf: wood and paint.
An Egyptian themed plate in the collection of the V & A museum is transformed in order to illustrate the use of social media to organize protests. The central drawing depicts 10's of thousands of protesters in Tahrir Square, Cairo. The decorative rim includes the twitter bird and the facebook logo. The shelf and backing board refer to placards used at the 2011 protest. |
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Clash - sculpture installation. Maslen & Mehra in collaboration with street artists Shuby and Delete. Plate sculptures: wire, papier mâché, and collaged archival photo. Control Vs Rights highlights the opposing views regarding guns in America: People who stand by the second amendment which protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms and those seeking gun controls in response to gun violence. Connected: An Egyptian themed plate in the collection of the V & A museum is transformed in order to illustrate the use of social media to organize protests. The central drawing depicts 10's of thousands of protesters in Tahrir Square, Cairo. The decorative rim includes the twitter bird and the facebook logo. Border Control depicts opposing views towards migrants and the ongoing loss of life taking place in the Mediterranean.
Sculptures in the Clash series: http://www.voidgallery.com/clash.htm |
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Cash - sculpture installation
MASLEN & MEHRA in collaboration with street artists Shuby and Delete
2015 Further information/images
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Contemporary Art Museum
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War Bucks - sculpture installation
MASLEN & MEHRA in collaboration with street artists Shuby and Delete
Silent Movies exhibition London
2015 Further information/images |
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