(born in Kattowice, Poland 1979)
Moot Matter (Tetrahedron), 2017, black patinated copper, unique, 73 x 90 x 90 cm

Exhibited:
Yuz Museum, Shanghai, Alicja Kwade, ReReason,
17. December 2017 – 1. April 2018

Journeying to the limits of human perceptibility, Alicja Kwade’s works examine the narrow strip between reality and fiction while questioning our established constructs. Her sculptural investigations reveal alternative systems of thought, questioning the ‘order of things’(See Michel Foucault, The Order of Things, France 1966).

In deforming the objects, Kwade changes their purported original state of appearance and mirrors thereby a transference of phenomena. How is our ontological perspective affected by this state and can this metamorphosis be integrated in our system of thought? Furthermore, is there perhaps even a parallel reality in which the phenomenon does not come up against the limits of human perceptibility?

In the process of creation, materiality, time and space traverse Kwade’s artistic activity. “Every material has a certain symbolism,” she explains. “Coal stands for energy and industry, copper stands for electricity, wires and systems - and the pointer stands for time.” (Alicja Kwade in an interview with Zeit Online, November 2020) She works meanwhile with a reduced aesthetic, making use of pure materials.

Executed in copper, yet evincing none of the usual reddish, shiny and reflective tones, but engulfing its surroundings in a patinated, matt black surface, is the sculpture “Moot Matter”. Kwade uses everyday objects that she deconstructs into anomalies, inviting the audience to let go of the predispositions of logic. In this sculpture, she steers together four funnel-shaped objects, tubes tapering towards the end, to eventually gather in one point. The four apertures face away from each other pointing in different directions in space. The sculpture evokes wormhole theory: investigating if there might be tunnels in the universe connecting disparate spaces and times. “Moot Matter” thus visualises a journey into space-time, whilst also alluding to the unexplained relationship between time and space. In the analysis of this unexplained phenomenon, the artist establishes a visual system through which to broach possible answers.