Stalagmites

A stalagmite is a dripstone that grows from the floor of a cave. Ruben Maria has titled his installation after the natural phenomenon, as he also lets his artwork grow from the floor. Whereas cave stalagmites slowly rise with eternal drops of calcareous water, his formation consists of recycled goods: bottles, cans, tubes, plastic, glass, aluminum: the annual consumption of a two-person household whose members define themselves as environmentally conscious. A total of 1322 objects were collected. All of them were documented.

Nine half SBB pallets carry Ruben Maria’s constructions. He arranges the individual parts on them in various forms – on top of one another, with each other. The structures are covered with plaster and jute, held together and deformed. Finally, a grey coating of sandstone pigment is applied.

The structures remind us of “real” stalagmites, yet they also invoke images of a utopian metropolis. Anyone walking between the towers senses a sacral impression.

In piles and processed, the recyclable materials are simultaneously hidden and presented, undergoing a metamorphosis towards the aesthetic. 

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