Reflected Topography is a snapshot of the Anthropocene in these terms, echoing the form of the Earth’s core and evoking traditional geological modes of analysis. This sense of accumulation is reminiscent of Tells and Mounds in archaeological study, resulting in a visual expression of time. This, however, is a contemporary stratum, whose unique elements, layered and laboured atop one another, range from precious to pollutant, including concrete, plaster, lead, steel, aluminium, rubber, wax, wood, plastics, glass, asphalt, cardboard, foam rubber and polystyrene.

Relected Topography

Stakkr represents a snapshot of the Anthropocene, echoing the form of the Earth’s core and evoking traditional geological modes of analysis. This sense of accumulation is reminiscent of Tells and Mounds in archaeological study, resulting in a visual expression of time. Stakkr, however, is a contemporary stratum, whose unique elements, layered and laboured atop one another, range from precious to pollutant, including concrete, plaster, lead, steel, aluminium, rubber, wax, wood, plastics, glass, asphalt, cardboard, foam rubber and polystyrene.

Stakkr

Stakkr represents a snapshot of the Anthropocene, echoing the form of the Earth’s core and evoking traditional geological modes of analysis. This sense of accumulation is reminiscent of Tells and Mounds in archaeological study, resulting in a visual expression of time. Stakkr, however, is a contemporary stratum, whose unique elements, layered and laboured atop one another, range from precious to pollutant, including concrete, plaster, lead, steel, aluminium, rubber, wax, wood, plastics, glass, asphalt, cardboard, foam rubber and polystyrene. 

 
Stakkr was selected for The London Group Open in 2019, and won the prestigious President’s Prize.

My sculpture, Intersections explores patterns created through construction and deconstruction, the play of light, shadows and reflections. It’s inter-locking, rusted steel grids, enclose a defined volume on four its sides. This space is intersected by horizontal and vertical glass tubes, which distort the geometry of the surrounding structure. This architectural symbiosis creates harmony between two very different materials. Reflecting on this piece, it brings to mind an abandoned city, a disused network perhaps.  

I’ve been taking pictures of the city’s empty streets early on a Sunday morning; there is a rather beautiful sense of post-apocalyptic calm. I’m struck by what I now see without the crowds of people and vehicles. The hidden structure beneath the skin of the city is revealed in my mind’s eye. I imagine the buildings and streets to be transparent, tunnels, pipes, vents and corridors intersecting with one another. These are mirrored in the reflections of the buildings. 


Intersections

My sculpture - “Deconstructed Cube Form I” was specifically created for the Time Space Existence exhibition in Palazzo Bembo. It explores both the relationship between the space in which it exists and the internal voids within the form itself, the connections between old and new, natural and manufactured. 

The form made from Douglas fir is held together with a traditional peg joint; it is suspended and interconnected within a set of five stainless steel rods, three of which provide the support for the structure. Although rooted to the floor - apparently fixed in time - the timber form appears to be tumbling through space, disrupting the volume of the room in which it exists. Moving around the work, new forms emerge, spaces open and close, connections are made and broken. My use of pine wood, joinery and the carpenter’s marks (Roman numerals) are intended to give the work a sense of history a connection both to the ancient building in which it is housed and the city of Venice: The method of construction draws on Venice’s rich tradition of building on oak and pine piles, or Tolpi, used to create the foundations of the city and on its tradition of shipbuilding and carpentry for buildings and furniture.

Disrupted Cube Form

My Installation “Fluctus” (Waves) is an expression of the energy of movement, an abstract representation of water, light and the human spirit. A ripple becomes a stream, which becomes a river, a torrent, a wave. Light waves are refracted by water and glass, and change direction. Our spirit or strength is passed from person to person, creating a wave of sometimes positive or occasionally negative feelings. We need to use this power to make changes for the good of the planet (on which we are merely guests) and mankind. 

Fluctus

Inspired by the familiar adage of ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’, and commissioned by the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), Bonomini created The WEEE Man. Crafted from 3.3 tonnes of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), the average that a person in the UK is currently estimated to use in a lifetime (as at 2006), the resulting sculpture stands 7.2m high.

An instantly iconic visual metaphor, The WEEE Man raises critical issues about the implications of household waste and its associated environmental impact. It has been installed opposite the Tower of London, and across the UK, including in Bristol and Cornwall.

WEEEMAN

My sculpture ‘Spiritum’ could be seen as part of a complex mechanism or organism pushing its way through to the surface of the earth, struggling to break free, seeking out the air. The steel ducts like tangled aerial roots disappear back into the ground re-emerging elsewhere, suggestive of a vast subterranean network, the lungs of the planet perhaps. My choice of galvanised steel is influenced by the direction of my current practice, using sustainable and recyclable materials, and the utilitarian design style of the 1950’s. 

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Paul Bonomini

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