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    Nøne Futbol Club’s ‘Hot Wheels’ Drive at the Dualities of Systems and Society

    Detail of “Work n°144 : Hot Wheels” from the series ‘Wheeling and dealing’ (2017), charred plane wood, 59 x 59 x 21 centimeters each. All images © ADAGP, Paris, 2025, courtesy of Nøne Futbol Club, shared with permission

    Nøne Futbol Club’s ‘Hot Wheels’ Drive at the Dualities of Systems and Society

    February 13, 2025

    Art

    Kate Mothes

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    Combining sculpture and performative interventions, Nøne Futbol Club—sometimes referred to as Nonefutbolclub—expresses conceptual messages through ephemeral objects and time-based actions. The name is the alias of Colas Claisse, who co-founded the project as a collective but now works solo under the moniker. The initiative continues to delve into potent dichotomies like tragedy and humor, vulnerability and security, disruption and calm, and politics and fiction. 

    “Nøne Futbol Club’s work may sometimes make you smile, but it can also be serious,” says a statement. “It highlights the violence inherent in our world, where speed and productivity are seen as all-powerful.” The artist describes the project’s role as one that “takes hold of our immediate environment,” expressing social divides and examining socio-political issues with a spark of wry humor.

    Installation view of “Work n°144 : Hot Wheels” from the series ‘Wheeling and dealing’ (2017), charred plane wood, 59 x 59 x 21 centimeters each

    An ongoing series of sculptures assume the form of tires fashioned from wooden rings. Scorched with fire, the series Wheeling and dealing includes multimedia works all titled “Work nº144: Hot Wheels.” The pieces appear in the guise of Cooper or Pirelli racing tires, yet upon closer inspection, they reveal their surprising composition. Layered meanings emerge through the flames, which initially create, and in some cases destroy, the works.

    Each life-size wooden object is made from sliced tree trunks that have been carbonized, producing the rich, black texture and facets redolent of treads. “Since a tree does not grow from its core but from the periphery of its trunk, the cracks resulting from combustion are created concentrically,” the artist says, describing how the resulting patterns mimic brand new, rubber car tires.

    A double entendre in the sense that the sculptures refer to the American toy brand of the same name and the literal temperature of the pieces as they burn, the artist plays with perception by creating a material that pretends to be another.

    Nøne Futbol Club continues to revel in this subtle deception, trapping the spectator in the simulacrum: “Subjected to form but destroying function, Wheeling and dealing introduces the silent unease of a double game: real tire or wood? Voluntary combustion or fatal car accident?”

    Detail of “Work n°144 : Hot Wheels”

    The series also spawns drawings made from charcoal chipped off of the sculptures when handled. Video works, such as the half-hour piece included below, chronicle the tires’ destruction in atmospheric landscapes. Bespoke molds cast tire shapes in plaster, aluminum, and—coming full circle—rubber. And later pieces incorporate puddles of metal underneath the tires, symbolizing overheating as the rims melt and serve as a display pedestal. Literally and figuratively a loop, the pieces define the cyclical nature of much of Nøne Futbol Club’s practice.

    The artist describes his approach as a “systematic hijacking or reversal of the system,” tapping into the powerful symbolism of objects that are burned or smashed amidst revolt. “Faced with a sense of powerlessness, car vandals and rioters seek an accessible way to convey a radical message,” he says. “As the embodiment of a comfortable and cushioned system, the car is a perfect target.”

    Nøne Futbol Club is slated to show work at Iconoscope Gallery in May in Montpellier and at MacBar in September in Lyon. Find more on his website and Instagram.

    “Work nº144: Hot Wheels” from the series ‘Wheeling and dealing’ (2017), burnt wood on paper, 100 x 77 centimeters

    “Work n°144 : Hot Wheels” from the series ‘Wheeling and dealing’ (2017), charred plane wood, 59 x 59 x 21 centimeters each

    “Work n°144 : Hot Wheels” from the series ‘Wheeling and dealing’ (2017), charred plane wood, 59 x 59 x 21 centimeters

    “Work nº144: Hot Wheels” from the series ‘Wheeling and dealing’ (2017), burnt wood on paper, 100 x 77 centimeters

    Still from “Work nº144: Hot wheels (Dompcevrin I)” (2017), video, 18 minutes, 23 seconds

    “Work nº144: Hot Wheels” from the series ‘Wheeling and dealing’ (2017), burnt wood, 28 x 82 x 103 centimeters

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    Step Into Beguiling Bygone Eras in Jeff Bartels’s ‘Urban Glitch’ Series

    “Urban Glitch 1983,” oil on linen. All images courtesy of the artist, shared with permission

    Step Into Beguiling Bygone Eras in Jeff Bartels’s ‘Urban Glitch’ Series

    September 23, 2024

    Art History

    Kate Mothes

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    Around the time he turned 50, Jeff Bartels (previously) found himself thinking more and more about memory and nostalgia. “It occurred to me that I could remember certain things from my past exactly, while other memories were mixed up or even wrong,” he tells Colossal. “So I decided to explore that confusion.”

    Bartels’s ongoing series Urban Glitch consists of five paintings so far, each focusing on different years from the recent past, ranging from 1979 to 2001. Each painstakingly detailed composition highlights pop culture of the era, from the latest cars and products to pastimes, music, and fashion.

    Detail of “Urban Glitch 1983”

    The imaginary buildings stack on top of one another and connect via bridges, platforms, and staircases reminiscent of M.C. Escher’s mathematically puzzling architecture.

    Locked in time and space, as if the scenes are “glitching,” Bartels’s thriving urban hubs invoke the sights and sounds of bygone eras. People peer into their fridges, walk their dogs, play games at the arcade, and view paintings by Jean-Michel Basquiat or Damien Hirst’s seminal 1991 work of a tiger shark preserved in a tank.

    The artist employs 3D modeling software to create references for each painting rather than photographic sources, so “there is a lot of work done on my computer before I even pick up a brush and being the painting,” he says. “This way, I can create realistic-looking scenes that could not exist in the real world.”

    Each piece takes hundreds of hours to complete due to the meticulous process of defining each building, figure, and tiny, stage-like scene. The artist estimates “1983” took about 850 hours altogether, and while the time commitment alone makes it “easy to burn out on them…” he says, “I do plan on continuing the series with at least a few more.”

    Find more on Bartels’s website and Instagram.

    “Urban Glitch 1985,” oil on linen, 30 x 30 inches

    Detail of “Urban Glitch 1985”

    “Urban Glitch 1979,” oil on linen, 30 x 30 inches

    Detail of “Urban Glitch 1979”

    Detail of “Urban Glitch 1979”

    “Urban Glitch 1991,” oil on linen, 30 x 30 inches

    Detail of “Urban Glitch 1983”

    “Urban Glitch 2001,” oil on linen, 30 x 30 inches

    Detail of “Urban Glitch 2001”

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    Demented Toys by Obvious Plant Confront Harsh Realities and the Mundanity of Life

    
    Art
    Design

    #games
    #humor
    #pop culture
    #satire
    #toys

    February 2, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    All images © Obvious Plant
    Unless you want a distraught child, double-check the packaging of your next purchase in case you accidentally snag a one-off toy by Jeff Wysaski, aka Obvious Plant. For years, he’s been littering supermarket and drugstore shelves with his action figures and small games that cleverly comment on capitalism and the harsh realities we all experience, from a birthday for one—it “includes one party blower because that is all you will need”—to a “childless couple” riding matching jet skis. Sometimes parodying pop culture, the elaborate designs are paired with witty copy and a slew of intentional spelling errors, including warnings that “everybody dies, even bird.”
    Many of the subversive products, shirts, and other goods are available in the Obvious Plant shop, although they sell out quickly. To stay up-to-date on the latest designs, follow Wysaski on Instagram.

    #games
    #humor
    #pop culture
    #satire
    #toys

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    Cloaked in Neon, Tate Britain Celebrates Diwali Through an Eclectic Technicolor Installation

    
    Art

    #installation
    #light
    #London
    #neon
    #pop culture
    #public art
    #religion

    November 16, 2020
    Grace Ebert

    “Remembering a Brave New World.” All images © Chila Kumari Singh Burman, courtesy of Tate Britain
    A new installation by artist Chila Kumari Singh Burman masks the stately columns and ornate flourishes of Tate Britain’s facade, enveloping the London museum in a blanket of neon. In “Remembering a Brave New World,” technicolor symbols, pop culture references, and religious iconography transform the neoclassical structure into an illuminated space for celebration. The public artwork was revealed on December 14 to coincide with the start of Diwali, the five-day Indian festival of lights, and casts a kaleidoscopic glow on the surrounding area.
    The eclectic collection draws on Punjabi Liverpudlian artist’s own life and family history, which manifests in pieces like the multi-colored ice cream truck. After moving to England, her father purchased one of the vehicles, an experience that imprinted her childhood.

    Other elements focus on the United Kingdom’s history of imperialism: the Britannia figure at the building’s apex, for example, is camouflaged with Kali, the Hindu goddess of liberation and power, while the lower region features Rani of Jhansi, the warrior and leader of the Indian resistance against the British in 1857. “It’s important to critique buildings like this because they’re very Eurocentric,” Burman said in an interview with Dezeen. “So, I just thought: why not do something that captures what we’re all going through right now? I felt like it needed a blast of joy and light. And Diwali is about good over evil, about hope, unity and the light at the end of the tunnel.”
    Glowing Hindu deities sprawl across the windows and arches, as well, including Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and purity, and Ganesh, the god of prosperity. The religious figures juxtapose the more playful elements, like a life-sized tiger, peacock, and pair of lips.
    “Remembering a Brave New World” is the fourth annual winter commission by Tate Britain. The public artwork will be on display through the end of January, even while the inner halls of the museum are closed to visitors due to the ongoing pandemic. Follow Burman’s projects that explore questions of power and identity on Instagram.

    #installation
    #light
    #London
    #neon
    #pop culture
    #public art
    #religion

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    Nevermore Park Manifests the Fictional Universe of Hebru Brantley’s Flyboy and Lil Mama

     All images © Amy Lombard, shared with permission Packed within a 6,000-square-foot space on Chicago’s south side is a fictional universe teeming with pinned up newspaper clippings, towers of retro electronics, and tons of vintage advertising from McDonald’s to Vienna Hot Dogs. It’s the world of Hebru Brantley’s iconic characters, Lil Mama and Flyboy, […] More