Following on from a show at Spazju Kreattiv earlier this summer, artist Justin Amrhein has further developed the schematic blueprints in his artistic practice into a set of striking 3D blueprint sculptures. These, which abstractly represent knowledge and future knowledge, are on show at MUŻA in three-part installation 3D Blueprint Network – Malta Test Station both in a gallery space inside the building, in the museum’s private courtyard and outside the side entrance of MUŻA in Pjazza Jean de Vallette.
The interior installation is an intriguing work in a strong royal blue on which bold painted white lines – like those on a tennis court – prove a striking contrast. It comprises 19 separate linked sculptures that range in size from something that can fit in the palm of your hand to 1.5 metres tall. Each of these abstracted forms has been created from found objects combined together to make interesting new forms. These ‘3D blueprints’ are laid out on a platform on the floor, around which people can walk, like a giant motherboard, a space-age control panel, and the result, to me, looks like the buildings of a futuristic mini-city in a galaxy far far away.
The idea, explains Amrhein, is that the pieces are all ‘plugged in’ to this control panel, and that these machines work together as part of a network of machines which could monitor the planet and heal the effects of climate change.
For 3D Blueprint Network – Malta Test Station, Amrhein has embraced a simple aesthetic, enjoying the contrast between these and the exceptionally detailed mechanical-botanical drawings he exhibited in his previous show. Despite this, it’s easy to see parallels in style, as both incorporate ideas of engineering and mechanisation.
Whilst developing the installation, Amrhein has very much enjoyed having the space and the freedom to create these playful works with a deliberate minimalist quality which implies function whilst it is merely imagined. The end-result evokes ideas of futuristic thinking – or the science fiction of the past, implying and drawing on the space age imagery of a childhood in which the artist loved Star Wars and Star Trek. There’s an unquestionable overtone of R2D2!
“And just as the mechanical botanicals in Dystopian Garden (Amrhein’s earlier show in Malta) were all designed with technology that is currently available, this is created with parts that exist (and have been found). “I am trying to highlight that we already have the knowledge and technology to help the planet with theoretical machines like these – so they’re futuristic in that sense but also specific to now, 2025, available today.” continues Justin.”
The exhibition continues in the museum’s courtyard where the old stone triumphal arch begins its ‘interaction’ with 3D Blueprint Network – Malta Test Station. A new sculpture like a giant half-barrel lies on the floor directly in front of the towering stone structure, and you wonder whether below it there’s a world of old tunnels or whether perhaps it’s the entrance to a cutting edge bunker packed with technology!
The horizontal half cylinder form itself references the top of the arch portal. “A conversation with the architecture and arch as an object has now begun,” smiles Justin. “This pairing acts as the beginning of the partnership with the 16th century triumphal arch and its significant role as the inspiration for this collaboration.”
Then, leave the museum through the side access point into Pjazza Jean de Vallette, the pièce de resistance of this “triumphant” partnership with the historical arch is plain to see: a giant replica of MUŻA 16th century arch stands nearly 8m tall, in Amrhein’s ‘blueprint’ styling, matching the height of the golden stone original. Is this what a space age Valletta might have looked like?
“I had to do some genuine engineering here!” Justin laughs. “I recreated the portal into the past to scale to make a portal into the future, and I hope this sister arch leads to a future in which we’re saving the planet.”
“I hope that people will enjoy seeing the works and will also realise that humans already have the knowledge required to save the planet and that we need to use that knowledge properly now to correct the damage that we have done to the world.”
3D Blueprint Network – Malta Test Station runs at MUŻA until August 10.
