This work is made from my bicycle and a STIHL chainsaw.
The bicycle was 20 years old at the time of assembly. When I was 14, I took a job as a janitor at a STIHL dealership to save up for it. The bike I chose was the coolest one available in our town, and after a year of working as a janitor, I finally managed to save enough. This bicycle has been through a lot with me, but I never sold it or abandoned it. Over the years, it became worn out, yet it still worked perfectly.
When I was invited to create a piece for a certain space, the idea struck me to merge my old bicycle with the STIHL chainsaw that started it all (after repainting the bike’s frame in STIHL’s signature colors). This is how “ANTIFORM 18” came to be.
When creating sculptures using the antiform method, it’s crucial for me not to introduce new elements or strip the object of its functionality. The work exists in a sort of quantum state: both sculpture and utilitarian object at once.
After the exhibition, the sculpture was disassembled. From the antiform emerged two objects again: the chainsaw, which I now use to chop firewood to heat my workshop in winter, and the bicycle — refurbished to a condition better than when I first bought it in 2005. I still ride it today, 20 years later.
