Wilfrid Almendra
While Waiting for the Revolution
2010
concrete, wood, mahogany wood stain, silicone
161 x 48 centimeters
Unique
In the almost twin sculptures While Waiting for a Revolution (2010) Wilfrid ALMENDRA confronts utopian forms of Dutch artist Constant NIEUWENHUYS' New Babylon project with those of suburban neighbourhoods and industrial areas. Each sculpture consists of a triangular plinth – triangles being a frequent form for Constant, linked to nomadism –, topped by a shape with a curving rim. One of the pedestals is made of boards recycled from palettes, bearing the stigma of an industrial process, the sanding of metallic parts: veins of wood are ploughed, and residues of paint have printed its surface; the other plinth, made of concrete, has been casted with the same boards, that have left their marks in negative. The shape on each pedestal takes that of a very sculptural water tower, who caught the artist's eye very early on; being the only construction in a provincial town to challenge the usual architectural typologies, it recalls observatories planned by Constant; the sculpture on the concrete plinth is covered with a marquetry of wood, as the outside of a formwork, whereas the other, on the wooden pedestal is made of cast concrete. Wilfrid ALMENDRA therefore plays on the notion of positive / negative, and the notion of series, very central in Constant's work.
