Artful magic with an egg

Contemporary artists remain the poor cousins of culture when it comes to their impact on the public.

But Dubai-based Belgian artist Arnaud Rivieren challenges conventional parameters in his new body of work titled The Hatching.

Deriving inspiration from the Surrealist Belgian artist Rene Magritte's painting titled An Egg in a Cage, Rivieren's sculptural artwork consists of over-sized stainless steel eggs set in a confounding array of surreal situations.

Whether suspended from a bough as a skeletal form, framed as an ancestral portrait or placed on a delicately gilded baroque stand, the eggs — reaching 80 centimetres in height and weighing about 45 kilograms — playfully cast the mundane in an exceptional light.

At first sight, the onlooker may find the sculptures amusing. But these eggs also speak about the need and the potential to reinvent ourselves at certain stages of life.

“The egg is the origin of everything,'' Rivieren told Weekend Review.

“It symbolises purity and innocence — a state at which one hasn't yet been corrupted. Sometimes we have to go back to the beginning to analyse ... and redirect a new stage in life.

"At that point, we are no more dreaming the life, we are living the dream. That stage of rebirth, which supersedes all the divisive constructs of existence, be it wealth, social position, race or creed — is crucial. We have the highest level of potential and commitment to the promises we intend to make.''

Rivieren is a metaphysical artist and his work portrays the essence of being minimalist and conceptualist. It is impossible to approach his work without sensing that it is speaking to the audience in both physical and emotional terms.

The Hatching concerns itself with themes of identity and human nature. It depicts an egg in a cage with a door too small for it to pass; another egg hangs from a branch of a tree; yet another is crafted from compressed stainless steel objects used in daily life.

Denial as freedom

In Original Sin, the shell of the egg is breached by an enigmatic red hand, which gestures “stop''.

This piece refers to the capacity of the young to say “no'' and decide what to do with their life. This is probably the main message the artist wishes to convey.

“The gesture of saying ‘no' builds a human image in a child and is an act of freedom and self-realisation.

“We have been living under a certain paradigm. We have surrendered to the choices of circumstances that guide us through materialistic values; and so, I find there is a need for a new paradigm of choice.

"A new paradigm offers a new choice of value directly proportional to freedom and to the fulfilment of our capacities,'' Rivieren says.

Domestic Black Box, which, unlike its title suggests, is a work in orange that deals with confession.

Rivieren has designed the piece, supposed to capture any noise rising above a certain decibel level, using the premise that The Black Box of an aircraft records occurrences leading to a crash.

This object reminds us of the difference in the way humans behave in public and private spaces — both in its function as a recording device and in its presence as a behavioural inhibitor.

Domestic Black Box is a device with a built-in recording, suggesting that viewers talk in whispers while examining the piece. Rivieren says the piece “is purely conceptual''.

Although the device exists within ourselves on a spiritual level, we need an “objective Black Box to subdue the act of prevaricating our own conscience'', he adds. “It is a third-party witness.''

The works on display include a series of “trophies'' — a light-hearted take on an age-old pastime and a novel take on those prized spoils of hunting.

In Rivieren's world, buffalo horns flash in vibrant colours on resin bases, elephant tusks made of stainless steel are ironically titled Defense de Tirer, two burnished rhino horns are mounted on an oxidised base and a glistening stag trophy towers over a bowed rust brown head.

Each piece is, nonetheless, classically suspended on the wall, monumental and serene in its role. The works manifest “displeasure at the habit of hunters to show off their pride by acquiring trophies'', he says about his tongue-in-cheek treatment of this sport.

Rivieren, 42, has been living in Dubai for seven years and works at the Jebel Ali Free Zone, which gives him ample opportunity to experiment with stainless steel recycled from the industrial scrapyards.

Described by the media as “a scientist of spatial subterfuge'', “a doctor of dynamics'' and “the crown prince of the circle'', the artist painstakingly works his materials through a lengthy, organic transformation, giving them new life and giving them stunning angular shapes.

The icons and themes of the works elicit awe and lend qualities otherwise missing in two-dimensional images.

“Stainless steel is very reflective. It is my favourite [medium].
“But I also like working with ordinary steel and resins,'' Rivieren says.

The works displayed in The Hatching collection demonstrate that he has set himself free from the constraints of steel as an artist's medium.

“Behind every sculpture is a vital method of preparation and about three to four evolutions of idea,'' Rivieren says.

“The relationship between the art and its viewer then develops in a positive way. The lengthier and [more] appealing the commitment, the more intense is the effect.''

Rivieren is remarkably progressive in his ideas. He possesses an innate cognisance of an object's physical intensity and this helps him to forge links between the apparent and unapparent reality in society through the symbolic power of materials.

Previous achievement

Rivieren's third solo show, From Scrap, last year was widely appreciated. In that exhibition, metal beams were transformed into primitive African totems.

Giant cherries and pears were fashioned from stainless steel buffed to a smooth patina. A giant globe made of compressed stainless steel plates, bowls and cups hung 20 centimetres above the floor.

The works in The Hatching are an expression Rivieren's profound aesthetic ability that invents the need to deal with the human contradictions.

“I believe in extracting complete concepts in minimal and complex entities. The objectives to my work are very vast,'' he says.

Layla Haroon is a freelance writer based in Abu Dhabi.
The Hatching runs until February 24 at the B21 art gallery, Dubai.