METROPOLIS

1918 - 1938

Just like the main character in that Čechov novella (My life), so the main character in Metropolis escapes the bonds of his caste to dive into the working class world.

Human hypogeum, inhuman apogee: the bowels of the earth populated by humble workers, the skyscrapers by algid despots.
We are in 2026, in a future that was a century away back then and is around the corner now.
The time table is all mixed up, depending on who’s dealing the cards.

The woman robot in the film (and on the B114 by Berkel) has the appearance of a human being, flesh and blood and all, but it’s just a trick to manipulate the crowd.
Like an avatar of the digital age, like a fake profile.

The New York skyline was a source of inspiration for the dystopian nightmare of the 1920s.
The skyscrapers both fascinating and disturbing.
The Chrysler Building, the Empire State Building...
The 1929 crisis is around the corner.

The fourteen studs, in place of the speike nails, can be seen as an alert, but they can also be a reference to Man Ray and his "Cadeu" full of nails, following a disruptive and ironic vision of Dada art in antithesis with the rigorous Bauhaus functionalism.

The clock, a chronological element often recurring in the six artworks on display, is taken from Modern Times.
The factory worker played by Chaplin is so alienated due to his mechanical work he sees the buttons on a secretary's skirt as bolts.

Great personal and epochal depression.
The B114 becomes the machine that feeds workers on lunch break and never stops turning.

The bottom of the painting is in mother of pearl.
A cinematic reflection on the black & white of history.

Technique:
mother of pearl powder, hematite, opaque colors, newspaper clippings, plexiglas, Swarovski studs.