Born to be Burnt 2006

Editor: Mircea Cantor’s “Born to be Burnt,” from 2006, presents this stark arrangement of burnt debris, cardboard, and what looks like the charred remains of an incense stick. It has such a desolate feel, doesn’t it? What are your initial thoughts about this piece? Curator: I'm immediately drawn to the materials. We have remnants – the aftermath of consumption, transformation through burning. Cardboard, incense, and detritus become raw material, re-presented not as discarded waste but as the very substance of art. I wonder, what is Cantor saying about the life cycle of objects, about value, about what we consume and leave behind? The title itself, "Born to be Burnt," is such an indictment. Editor: So, it's about process and materiality then? This is all about our wastefulness? Curator: Not solely, but crucially. Look at how Cantor disrupts traditional hierarchies. He’s not sculpting marble; he's elevating the overlooked byproducts of daily life into the realm of fine art. Think of Arte Povera. He employs very simple materials. Doesn’t the labor involved – gathering these discarded elements, arranging them so deliberately – comment on the much-romanticized "artist’s hand" or artistic skill? Editor: Yes, I hadn't considered that. By using everyday materials, he sort of democratizes the artistic process, showing how anyone can transform waste into something meaningful with their own hands. Curator: Precisely! The means of production here are readily available, shifting our focus from the finished product to the action itself. But doesn’t that combustion, also imply something darker? Consumption and the fire as representative of creation and destruction? Editor: Absolutely. I'm now thinking more deeply about consumerism and its consequences. Thank you; this was eye-opening. Curator: And thank you. Thinking about the material life of art and its reflection of society, has certainly reframed how I see Cantor's assemblage.