L'ULTIMA CERA

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The work of artist and designer Anton Alvarez is rather difficult to define, for it occupies an indeterminate space between the functional object and sculpture. Alvarez's practice oscillates between expression and constraint, using both technological innovation and traditional craftsmanship. His work is futuristic and primitive at the same time. With the exhibition L’Ultima Cera, Anton explores an ancient material in a new and innovative way: bronze. Commissioned by curator Nicolas Bellavance-Lecompte and produced by 5VIE in collaboration with the Fonderia Artistica Battaglia in Milan as part of their new program of commissions and residencies, Alvarez adapts his machine, called ‘Extruder’, to work with wax. The extruder is a large metal cylinder hung from the ceiling by chains, using an electric motor to exert more than 2,000 kilos of pressure on the wax, pushing it through different moulds and cut-outs into a pool of cold water, where the artist uses his hands to give the wax its final form. When the wax is set, all the pieces are cast in bronze, each one-of-a- kind. Alvarez produces twelve pieces, this being the first time that an artist has approached bronze with such a technique.