Artifact of the Grip No. 6 (De-Gloved Phantom)
Series: THE EPISTEMIC GRIP
Material: PLA, acrylic paint
Dimensions: 55 x 49 x 65 cm (variable)
Year: 2026
Lim.: 3 (1 AP)
Abstract
This freestanding sculpture "De-Gloved Phantom" employs the medical term for traumatic skin loss as a metaphor for the digital expropriation of the hand. The piece oscillates between surgical precision and speculative abstraction, radically redefining the classical parameters of sculpture: the traditional interplay of light, shadow, and material is harnessed here to stage the painful absence of the biological body. The object exposes the anatomical vectors of grasping as a hollow, skeletal shell—a "phantom pain" of analog making in a virtual age where the body threatens to dissolve into the data stream.
Deep Dive: Conceptual Insight
The sculpture visualizes the final stage of technological evolution investigated within the overarching concept of THE EPISTEMIC GRIP: the complete virtualization of the hand. While preceding works simulate heavy materiality, De-Gloved Phantom ruptures mass into a skeletal framework. Here, classical sculpture unfolds within the digital realm: the white acrylic finish precisely captures ambient light, casting deep, investigative shadows into the object's voids. Where analog processes would use plaster fragments to suggest bone structures, here the sculptural interplay of light and shadow marks the disappearance of fleshy substance. The work becomes a forensic, spatial trace of a body that has surrendered its evolutionary core competency—the physical shaping of the world—to automated systems.
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