2nd Cumming, Mixed Media

• Mixed Media - 3D scanned and printed, rendered in eco-resin and finished in industrial scratch-resistant paint
• H35 X W55 X D30cm
• 2023

'2nd Cumming' is a wall-hanging, potentially, low-hanging sculpture; a political crevice that's crass and quite deliberate at being in your face. It acts to serve as a middle finger to all that diminish or attempt to normalise and shame sexual exploration. The piece is modeled from a live model where by the model was 3D scanned and printed to eventually be rendered in eco-resin and finished in industrial scratch-resistant paint.

About the Artist 

Born in Malta 1983 MA Ceramics & Glass – Royal College of Art, London, UK 3 Dimensional Design Glass BA (Hons) – University for the Creative Arts, Farnham, UK Kane Cali explores human identity within a digital context by making sculptures and 3D representations of a dichotomic self, hanging between biology and virtual dematerialization. In his work, he acknowledges how in the span of a few generations, code – from bytes to algorithms – has become the new common language we share across borders, and embraces its potential as a new genetic source for art aiming at representation and portraiture. If reality is now born of the digital filter, then the person behind the filter - what we could call a new mask - is just a vessel. Skin color and clothing are no longer defining elements of social background in portraiture; renting high end clothes is now a popular business in the age of social media, and stories of whitewashing magazine covers and large corporate ads have flooded the internet for more than a decade. In a society where appearance matters less than what we can make of it, and data editing is available to everyone, Cali’s materials and colors do not pertain to the subject but rather to the artist, who reaffirms his role in society. Everything is inspired by his own judgement, as partial as everyone else’s, but also by art history or the diktat of the world we live in, in which the artist is as vulnerable as his audience and subjects. Yet, at the same time, what still matters in the age of surveillance capitalism is facial recognition. This is why Cali employs 3D scanning to manipulate the real identities of users willingly used by the artist to fulfil their social lust, a weakness exposed through defragmentation, controlled by color and mechanized by algorithms.

About the auction

• This artwork is part of The Big Gay Art Show, a collective exhibition celebrating queer Maltese and Malta-based artists, displayed at Cafe Society in Valletta between the 7th and 30th of September 2023
• All proceeds from the auction go to the Artist
• The bidding increment is set at EUR 10.00
• The silent auction auction ends on the 30th of September at 23:59
• The winning bidder will be notified on the 1st of October 2023
• The collection of the artwork will be available from the 3rd of October 2023 at il-lokal shop in Valletta
• Local and international shipping will be quoted separately