Whereas visiting the studio of a pal, we speak about one in every of her sculptures. It isn’t easy to pinpoint what we are literally coping with. What’s mendacity at our toes, devoid of any pressure, jogs my memory of those jointed animal collectible figurines made from wooden which collapse when one pushes the button on the bottom of their stand. We have a look at footage of those so known as push puppets and this evokes a fairly particular/concrete, haptic childhood reminiscence of mine and pulling me in; there’s nothing nostalgic to it, nothing wistful, it’s purely sensory.

The toy was designed over 100 years in the past; its performance has hardly modified since. The figurine is stored in place by strings stretched by springs. The indestructible mechanism with the button is hidden within the stand. If one misses the true middle of it when urgent with the thumb, the figurine solely looses its steadiness and begins to contort. When totally pressed, the little animal collapses and solely will get again up, when no extra stress is utilized.

With this thought behind my thoughts I move a pharmacy. The pharmacy is promoting a treatment for joint issues with precisely such little animals. Within the store window, the toys grow to be a prop that are to information the eye of passers-by in the direction of their merchandise—together with a witty promoting slogan. Sadly, I forgot the way it went.

at MMXX, Milan
till December 17, 2022