Daily Archeology
2010
5 x 110 centimeters
Unique
In this context, the notion of contemporary archeology acquires a strong symbolic value when novelty, a clearly acclaimed concept of modernist ideology, seems to explain perfectly the nostalgic idea of the postmodern era of the potential ruin. Just think about the situation in which the consumer has to buy the latest model of a cell phone when a new version, with better performances, is already available on the Internet. Temporality thus undergoes a dizzying compression in the digital era, a chronofagy measured in nanoseconds. With "Daily Archeology" (2010), Adrien MISSIKA reverses and accelerates the aging process of an unlikely archaeological object. Common soaps are subjected to a relatively long period of inactivity, during which they are turned into unique archaeological objects. Preciously kept in glass cases that resemble the boards in the museums of natural history, these ready-made thus acquire a new and somewhat unexpected value. In order to preserve, protect and defend them from the wear of time, as if they were real historical artifacts, these everyday objects are paradoxically museified. Through the idea of Bunker4, a ruin in cement of a recent past, the idea of the museum is questioned in an era where conservation seems to be in contradiction with the dromologic spirit of the contemporary era.
