|
Point of Collision is Nicholas Crombach first exhibition at MOCA London. The exhibition focusing on two series of sculptural works Erratic Boulders and Xenolith. Through these pieces, Crombach explores themes of archaeology, museology, and materiality. The exhibition considers how museum artifacts narrate the passage of time and how, through forensic observation, we can gain insights into past rituals, social structures, and technologies. Crombach’s sculptures incorporate found objects, fragments of automobiles encased in melted material, and carved forms. These works evoke a sense of temporal displacement, existing between the past and hinting at future remnants.
The three Erratic Boulders have been positioned in the gallery with illuminated headlights fused into the high-density foam boulders. The front and back headlights are stacked on top of each other as if being warped in time. The glaring headlights projecting into the space, evoke an unsettling sense of multiple impacts and the acceleration of both bodies and technology. These excavated materials tell us about our relation to nature and how innovations both enhance our lived experience and destroy the surrounding we depend on. Walking through museums the presentation of the artifacts significantly shapes our understanding of their historical context and importance. The carefully staged environments, of marbles, geological rocks and fossils, evoke a sense of drama and curiosity. Mounted on the gallery walls, the Xenoliths’ flat surfaces reveal embedded objects and hints at natural eruption, a melting point in time with one geological fragment trapped within another. The encapsulation and preservation of various found objects – brass, copper, bricks, stones, and corals – within cast aluminium, are almost like modern-day fossils. The shapes, textures, and colours are beautifully exposed on the surface. Everyday items like candle holders, brass bowls, and vessels, while fixed within the flat surface, hint at their three-dimensional forms extending beyond what is immediately visible. Crombach prompts the viewer to question the inherent value of materials and their formation. Where a boulder is carved from foam, it challenges our perception of weight. The geological forms cast by the artist explore the relationship between the artificial and the natural. Rather than giving a sense of false truth they bring a closer connection to the material and the relation between the man-made and the natural. Through carving, casting, and the deliberate placement of objects, Crombach constructs time-based narratives that encompass events, materials, and the “artist’s” labour. What might appear to be incidental are in fact carefully planned executions and thought through sculptural processes, generating a tension between the sense of an archaeological discovery and the uncertain interplay between humans and nature, consistence and change. Erratic Boulders and Xenolith are moments of chaos, eruptions, and collisions, captured and molded into stillness. Ebook: Point of Collision @moca_london www.nicholascrombach.com @nicholascrombach Press release |
Works List:
1. Nicholas Crombach. Erratic Boulders (detail view), 2023.Automotive lights, polyurethane foam, paint. Installation of three sculptures, dimensions variable. 2. Nicholas Crombach. Xenolith VI, 2023 Found brass and copper objects, and found materials including brick and stone embedded in cast aluminum 24” x 21” x 10” (61 x 53 x 25 cm) Photo credit: Michael Patten 3. Nicholas Crombach. Erratic Boulders, 2023. Automotive lights, polyurethane foam, paint. Installation of three sculptures, dimensions variable. Photo credit: Michael Patten 4. Nicholas Crombach. Xenolith VII (detail view), 2023Found brass and copper objects, and found materials including brick, stone and coral embedded in cast aluminum 31” x 35” x 8” (79 x 89 x 43 cm) Photo credit: Michael Patten |
|
MOCA London
113 Bellenden Road SE15 4QY |
|
During Exhibitions:
Open Thursday and Friday: 1pm - 5pm Open Saturday: 12pm - 4pm or by appointment |