Small Jamaican Cactus, 2020
Photo: Roman März | Comte Studio
TBA21–Academy
Commissions
Collection
Almond wood
67.5 x 34 x 13.5 cm
Commissioned by TBA21–Academy and Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary
Small Jamaican Cactus (2020) is one of a series of works Claudia Comte produced during her residency at the Alligator Head Foundation in Portland, Jamaica in 2019. Made from the wood of fallen trees on the island, the sculptures represent an extension of her work with a material that surrounded her as a child. Her childhood in the Swiss town of Grancy in the Jura Mountains inspired an interest in forestry, ecology, and biodiversity which grounds the majority of her work. The sculptures she made during her residency develop her environmental concerns in a new context. Drawing on findings from her participation in Chus Martinez’s research trip to the North Islands in New Zealand in 2018, Spheric Ocean, and research conducted by the Alligator Head Foundation, they seek to draw attention to the impacts of rising sea temperatures on marine life.
This work, made to be exhibited on land, mirrors a set of three sculptures of cacti installed on the ocean floor in the East Portland Fish Sanctuary, a conservation area established in 2016 and managed by the foundation and Jamaica’s Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture, and Fisheries. Spanning 6km2, the sanctuary protects an array of critically endangered species including elkhorn and staghorn coral, reef fish, and turtles. Speaking of the project, which represents TBA21-Academy’s first underwater art installation, Comte stated that cacti “represent the arid terrain of the desert and symbolize for me a potential future version of the earth on land and sea… Placing cacti on the seabed creates quite a rupture, while also conjuring quite an emotional reaction.” First carving the shapes in wood, Comte reproduced the sculptures in reinforced concrete from 3D scans of the original works. The material, selected for its capacity to withstand ocean currents, also provides a habitable surface for coral growth which the artist and researchers at the foundation hope will help to promote coral resuscitation in the sanctuary.
Viewed as a response to the question: is the ocean an art space? which drove Spheric Ocean, Comte’s sculptures represent how Martinez’ inquiry seeks to reapply ideas that have long upheld cultural spheres and institutions, namely the conservation of objects in space, to help sustain life in the oceans resuscitation in the sanctuary.
Viewed as a response to the question: is the ocean an art space? which drove Spheric Ocean, Comte’s sculptures represent how Martinez’ enquiry seeks to reapply ideas that have long upheld cultural spheres and institutions, namely the conservation of objects in space, to help sustain life in the oceans. –Elsa Gray
67.5 x 34 x 13.5 cm
Commissioned by TBA21–Academy and Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary
Small Jamaican Cactus (2020) is one of a series of works Claudia Comte produced during her residency at the Alligator Head Foundation in Portland, Jamaica in 2019. Made from the wood of fallen trees on the island, the sculptures represent an extension of her work with a material that surrounded her as a child. Her childhood in the Swiss town of Grancy in the Jura Mountains inspired an interest in forestry, ecology, and biodiversity which grounds the majority of her work. The sculptures she made during her residency develop her environmental concerns in a new context. Drawing on findings from her participation in Chus Martinez’s research trip to the North Islands in New Zealand in 2018, Spheric Ocean, and research conducted by the Alligator Head Foundation, they seek to draw attention to the impacts of rising sea temperatures on marine life.
This work, made to be exhibited on land, mirrors a set of three sculptures of cacti installed on the ocean floor in the East Portland Fish Sanctuary, a conservation area established in 2016 and managed by the foundation and Jamaica’s Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture, and Fisheries. Spanning 6km2, the sanctuary protects an array of critically endangered species including elkhorn and staghorn coral, reef fish, and turtles. Speaking of the project, which represents TBA21-Academy’s first underwater art installation, Comte stated that cacti “represent the arid terrain of the desert and symbolize for me a potential future version of the earth on land and sea… Placing cacti on the seabed creates quite a rupture, while also conjuring quite an emotional reaction.” First carving the shapes in wood, Comte reproduced the sculptures in reinforced concrete from 3D scans of the original works. The material, selected for its capacity to withstand ocean currents, also provides a habitable surface for coral growth which the artist and researchers at the foundation hope will help to promote coral resuscitation in the sanctuary.
Viewed as a response to the question: is the ocean an art space? which drove Spheric Ocean, Comte’s sculptures represent how Martinez’ inquiry seeks to reapply ideas that have long upheld cultural spheres and institutions, namely the conservation of objects in space, to help sustain life in the oceans resuscitation in the sanctuary.
Viewed as a response to the question: is the ocean an art space? which drove Spheric Ocean, Comte’s sculptures represent how Martinez’ enquiry seeks to reapply ideas that have long upheld cultural spheres and institutions, namely the conservation of objects in space, to help sustain life in the oceans. –Elsa Gray