sam rees

They may be viewed as disturbances to the natural order or as eyesoresin metropolitan areas. It is possible to see structures that are in ruins orhave lost their historical relevance as a momentary break in the capitalistsystem. How will they appear in the long future, and how did they appear in thepast? when the natural world has taken over and it becomes difficult todistinguish between buildings and natural areas? symbolising a vanished civilization from the past.

My work reflects a synthesis of the non-fictional and the fictional, a depiction of a parallel reality. Imake drawings, installations, sculpture and videos, exploring the tensionbetween fantasy and reality. The drawings especially depict worlds that couldexist in the past, now, and in the future. In addition to my practice, I amalso part of a Duo Sam Man Pad Rees. We make videos with sound and installations also with sound for now going on for over a decade.

Ruins may be the only object that is semi-permanent and changes far more slowly thanour memories because our memory is continually eroding far more quickly. Thepast is emphasized by the ruins. Nonetheless, the term “ruin” isdefined extremely broadly. I have pushed these boundaries continuously throughoutmy work.

Many urban landscapes will and have been forgotten over time. We don’thave to travel very far into history to find examples of man-made landscapesthat have become obsolete .We are living in a period of social, economic, and environmental upheaval. Thereare clues all around us that our entire way of life is very realisticallybecoming something of the past.

Meanwhile,mainstream Art in the West at least has historically been about shock,breaching taboos, and gaining attention. This has been going on for so longthat it is now common to argue that in these ironic, tired, post-everythingtimes, there are no more taboos to violate. One final thing to remember howeverwhich I find emboldening and inspiring is that artists’ can also have a very worthwhilegoal. It is to make things more visible and to demonstrate that we are notindestructible.