Lava I 2003

Curator: Jean-Marc Bustamante's "Lava I" is a large floor-based sculpture currently residing in the Tate Collections. Editor: The immediate effect is one of quiet intensity, a tension between the grid and the disruptive orange slash cutting through it. Curator: It's crucial to understand Bustamante's broader oeuvre; he explores the intersections of landscape and architecture, challenging our perceptions of space and identity within it. Editor: And what about the materials? I'm curious about what this grid is made of and how the "lava" was realized. There's a deliberate flatness, a manufactured quality that contrasts with the implied natural force. Curator: Precisely. That tension speaks to a controlled chaos, perhaps a commentary on societal structures and the inevitable eruptions that challenge them. What social narratives does this piece trigger for you? Editor: For me, it speaks to the processes of making and unmaking, of control and release. The materiality and scale create an interesting tension, a conversation between the industrial and the elemental. Curator: Indeed, a fascinating interplay that invites us to interrogate our relationship with both constructed environments and the raw power of nature. Editor: I agree, it provides an interesting lens through which to look at our built environment and reflect on the materials we choose.