Matthew Langan-Peck

Plane

Plane is an inflatable sculpture in the shape of an airplane made from numerous pieces of plastic bags assembled by an iron. The object is inflated by a fan at the structure’s base and deflates when it is deprived of its power source, causing the plane to sink. It is in this process that the plane leans on its wings, evoking a crash, a defeat, or a failure. In interrogating the economy of materiality and representation, “Plane” toys with the notion of airplanes as a mode of transportation, while the installation counters that which it resembles with the work itself is easily assembled, transported, and reproduced. Equally, the installation evokes questions of waste and man-made objects and material, the impact of unrecyclable matter on the environment, and the role of the artist exploiting alternative modes and methods for installation.

The practice of Matthew Langan-Peck (b. 1988), currently based in New York, traverses drawing, installation, and painting. Through manipulating and experimenting with materials and space, the artist explores the economy of installation, ad-hoc materiality, and space occupation. The artist makes peculiar, amusing, and almost childish objects from simple shapes and materials. While the objects in his installations are too big to be games, often embarrassing by their volumes, and some may seem ridiculous; the objects contain an opposition — or a tension — that combines playfulness with the fragility of life. They are, at once, ambitious gestures of power and delicate assemblages of waste and recycled materials. If this practice is reminiscent of Claes Oldenburg, the works of Matthew Langan-Peck are imprinted with resigned poetry. The modesty of the work and the fragility of the forms bear a tragi-comic resonance heightened by his evocation of a possible disappearance.