Artwork

Holy viewfinder - Constructing Utopia series

2021 Competition entry

Detail
Tags

Miró Van der Vloed

Details:
Not Signed
Steel, laser-engraved imbuia wood
51 x 36 x 4 cm
R6 250
Description:
The hand saw was heated and bent from its original form to the rounded arch. The saw blades were also curved and attached to the object in a manner that suggests the domed stained-glass windows that are a common element in church architecture. The resemblance to a window lead to its conception as a ‘holy viewfinder’. The viewfinder is intended to draw attention to the role of shifting viewpoints as a means to reimagine the world around us. The object went through a process of tempering and transformation which reflects on the difficult process that could lead to social change. The object is mounted against the wall on a small imbuia tabletop that was once a feature of my grandparent’s home. Imbuia is a wood that was very commonly used for furnishing predominantly white middle-class houses in South Africa in the 1970s and by using these tables I hope to draw attention to the home space and the nuclear family model that is centred in Christianity. It was important that I change the way in which the table is used by removing its legs and hanging it on the wall. Through altering its intended function, I imply that the ideals and conversations it bore witness to are also in need of change. In laser engraving the shape of the object into the wood, I further try to embed a new and imaginative utopia into an object that speaks to the past.

Steel Laser

Navigating Queer Desire

Detail
Tags

Miró Van der Vloed

Details:
Not Signed
Steel, laser-engraved imbuia wood
51 x 36 x 4 cm
R6 250

Description:
The hand saw was heated and bent from its original form to the rounded arch. The saw blades were also curved and attached to the object in a manner that suggests the domed stained-glass windows that are a common element in church architecture. The resemblance to a window lead to its conception as a ‘holy viewfinder’. The viewfinder is intended to draw attention to the role of shifting viewpoints as a means to reimagine the world around us. The object went through a process of tempering and transformation which reflects on the difficult process that could lead to social change. The object is mounted against the wall on a small imbuia tabletop that was once a feature of my grandparent’s home. Imbuia is a wood that was very commonly used for furnishing predominantly white middle-class houses in South Africa in the 1970s and by using these tables I hope to draw attention to the home space and the nuclear family model that is centred in Christianity. It was important that I change the way in which the table is used by removing its legs and hanging it on the wall. Through altering its intended function, I imply that the ideals and conversations it bore witness to are also in need of change. In laser engraving the shape of the object into the wood, I further try to embed a new and imaginative utopia into an object that speaks to the past.

Steel Laser