A sculptural inquiry into absence and transformation

At its essence, VOIDS is a conceptual investigation into the relationship between absence and presence, where material form emerges from what is typically unseen. Created by Objects of Common Interest, the series repositions negative space as a primary generator of meaning. Through a rigorous casting process, the designers transform fleeting gestures and overlooked surfaces into enduring sculptures, questioning how immaterial moments can be captured, solidified and reinterpreted.

CASTING THE EPHEMERAL URBAN LANDSCAPE

The first chapter of VOIDS takes Athens as its starting point, focusing on the corrugated steel shopfront rollers that line the city’s streets. Weathered by use, marked by graffiti and shaped by daily rhythms, these sheets carry the imprint of urban time. By casting these surfaces, the designers render them functionless while celebrating the transient qualities embedded in their material history. The result is a series of new sculptural bodies that stand between memory and transformation, prompting viewers to consider the impermanence of the built environment and the latent narratives held within everyday structures.

A DIALOGUE BETWEEN DOMESTIC AND ARCHITECTURAL SPACE

Presented within the historic rooms of Villa Borsani during Alcova, VOIDS acquires an expanded spatial resonance. The curator, Joy Herro, situates the works within an immersive scenography that blurs distinctions between public architecture and private interior, allowing the sculptures to assert a presence that feels both autonomous and alive. Shown for the first time during Frieze 2024, the collection appears to suggest movement even in its stillness, as though the objects harbour a quiet momentum toward transformation.

REFRAMING MATERIALITY, CONTEXT AND MEMORY

The strength of VOIDS lies in its capacity to reconsider the meaning of form by shifting attention to what is absent. These works embody a passage through time: from fragments of the urban fabric to cast sculptures that operate independently of their origins. Their materiality becomes a record of transition, while their spatial presence encourages reflection on the environments we inhabit and the residues we leave behind.

More than an exhibition, VOIDS unfolds as a narrative that connects material, space and memory. It invites viewers to rethink the foundations of form and belonging, drawing attention not only to what is created but to what is erased, forgotten or transformed. In doing so, the series challenges conventional readings of sculpture and architecture, urging a deeper contemplation of the voids—literal and metaphorical—that shape our perception of space.

Project Credit

Designer: Objects of Common Interest / @objects_of_common_interest
Completed: 2025
Photo: Yiorgos Kaplanidis