Grinder
(Alchemy after school)
Social sculpture, concrete, golden and white paint, 7 days in a skatepark200 x 15 x 15 cm
2017
EN
A grinder, or grinder rail, is a common element found in skateparks. Made out of concrete or wood with metal edges, the rail or edge is used for “grinding,” a skateboarding “trick” that involves sliding along the grinder with the trucks of the skateboard. The starting point of this work was the discovery of a grinder in a skatepark in Graz (Austria), ruined to the point of breakage. In the work, the artist replaced the old grinder with a new sculpture, a reproduction made in concrete with a formwork. The sculpture was painted over twice: first with a layer of gold, then with a layer of white. The sculpture was installed in the place of the original grinder and left for seven days. The marks on its surface resulted from the activity of the skaters that used it during those seven days: as they slid along with the grinder on the skateboard’s trucks, the white paint was worn away, exposing the golden layer emerged. The sculpture was then removed from the park and exhibited with the photograph of the first skater who used it as a grinder.
IT
