Akin to Le Guin’s ‘bag’ as a metaphor for preservation of seeds and society, Squid Theory is similarly born out of an ancient Neolithic technology – cephalopod mold casting. Composed of a series of novel bronze coins entitled Squid Money 1-12, Uchino’s hand-carved pieces contextualise the abstract concept of value into tangible objects that fit into the palm of our hand. “Vernacular crafts are interesting today as a type of techno-futurism, where past, future and science coalesce. It propels us to redefine the extractive and exploitative relationship man has to land, towards a more harmonious future.”
For FUTURA PROXIMA, Uchino’s Squid Theory is documented in a series of close-up photographs by French photographer Marvin Leuvrey, set against a variety of backdrops from paper to textile and green-screen plastic. As if holding invaluable keys to both past and future, Squid Theory asks us if speculative values can be found in reinterpreting historic craft, and how glimpsing at tomorrow, alchemy might transmute futures.
All works courtesy of Galerie Allen, Paris
Natsuko Uchino (b. 1983 in Kumamoto, Japan) lives and works in the South of France. Uchino graduated from the Cooper Union School of Art, New York and the Center for Contemporary Art Kitakyushu, Fukuoka. Her work has been exhibited at Fondation Vincent Van Gogh, Galerie Allen, Kadist, La Friche Belle de Mai, Le Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature Paris, Musée d’Art Moderne de Paris, Museum of Modern Art Warsaw and Plattform für Neue Kunst Karlsruhe.