Buckley, Joseph
Joseph Buckley uses the visual and conceptual languages of science fiction and fantasy to speak about contemporary and historical class and race politics. The figures in his work operate as speculative phantoms of the future, all too close to our current social reality. Preoccupied with the mechanics of objectification and dehumanisation, Buckley is interested in the articulation of these dynamics into sculptural forms. He is interested in the potential of sculpture as a physical thing occupying physical space – its ability to confront and implicate a viewer in space.
Buckley uses mould-making and plastic casting and is fascinated by these processes' connotations of industrial production. plagues, fires, floods, 2021, consists of six larger than life baton-wielding armoured figures arranged in a phalanx. He is entranced by the ways that systems of abuse replicate themselves, at different scales, across our society. This work refers to Roman centurions, riot cops, feudal knights, bullies, the Stormtroopers of Star Wars, and the Space Marines of Warhammer 40,000 – those who crush the poor and weak underneath their boots, clubs, batons, laser swords, and economic systems.
- Artwork Details: 247 x 318 x 193cm
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- Material description: Cast plastic, Formica, MDF
- Credit line: © the artist. Image courtesy of the artist. Photo: Mischa Haller
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- Accession number: ACC22/2021