Commonwealth and Council

pulpa flesh

Erich Bollmann, Koh Byoung Ok and Maryrose Cobarrubias Mendoza

Images

2Commonwealth & Council selects artworks by Erich Bollmann, Koh Byoung Ok and Maryrose Cobarrubias Mendoza that deftly handle pulp as a material and reinvigorate its surface with pathos and energy.


Bollmann substitutes familiar objects, things and people with paper doppelgangers—pulp extracted, leaving only skeletal remains. Their exhumed, petrified fossils become uncanny, haunting the living and looking awry. These emptied ve

ssels guide our exploration and search for knowledge and meaning in this world of the dying and the undead.

Koh contemplates our relationship to readymade objects through processes of removal (naked truth) and intimacy (close scrutiny). Whether he is removing the waxy coating (epidermis) of a milk carton with his nails to offer a “breathing space” or molding a napkin to the shape of a “sweating” soda can, Koh reveals the world of wonder that encompasses our daily lives and private rituals.


Mendoza painstakingly reconstructs the mundane and honors even the humblest subject with respect. Here she turns her attention to the back of a canvas—using pulp to create its texture, the wood grain on the stretcher bars and the staples. The piece reminds us of the unseen but essential parts that make art.