Urbanus n°XIII 1999

Curator: Right now we're standing in front of Iseult Labote’s "Urbanus n°XIII," an assemblage and photographic work created in 1999. Editor: Well, hello to the age of conceptual landscape! My initial impression is of organized abandonment – like a post-apocalyptic minimalist grid, but the apocalypse was... a tire fire? Curator: I can see that! It's made with found objects – mostly discarded tires – layered in front of a corrugated metal wall and then photographed. There's a starkness, wouldn’t you say, almost an industrial melancholy to it? Editor: Oh, absolutely. I mean, look at those tires. Each one is a story of movement, of wear and tear, now relegated to this still life. It begs the question, doesn't it: whose labor produced these objects, and whose consumption rendered them waste? It really plays with the concept of value. Curator: And doesn't the repetitive pattern echo our modern obsession with... tires, walls, grids? Each echoing endless replication. The metal wall itself feels like a fabricated horizon, sterile, devoid of natural beauty. It’s almost claustrophobic. Editor: Exactly! That juxtaposition of organic and industrial is so key. You’ve got the grit of the gravel meeting the hard lines of the metal. Labote makes us confront our waste stream. And, thinking materially, what is it made of but the carbonized rubber which began life deep inside of the earth, brought to the surface to propel human movement only to be buried back into the surface as rubbish, pollution, toxic to all living organisms which rely on this thin atmosphere. Curator: Precisely. And the conceptual strength is amplified in its simplicity – mundane objects become a commentary on urban decay and our relentless pursuit of… progress. Is this beauty or detritus? Editor: Well, the question itself IS the point. We have to face these things to begin to transform and reverse how materials are handled, created, reused and celebrated. Curator: Ultimately, "Urbanus n°XIII" invites us to contemplate the overlooked corners of our cities and maybe question our relationship with consumption. A starkly simple statement using the leavings of hypermobility and consumerism. Editor: Leaving us to reflect that our throwaway culture really needs a good tire rotation, maybe even a complete structural overhaul, wouldn't you say?