Mini Brutalist Sculptures by David Umemoto

Szigetmonostor no1/c.

Szigetmonostor no3/b.

TEA-BOT Szigetmonostor no4/c.

Zaira b.

After 15 years in architecture, David Umemoto turned his attention to sculpture. His works sit at the junction of the two disciplines, the miniature pieces evoking temporary buildings or ancient monuments. Despite the solidity and modernity of his chosen medium, concrete, the structures refer to the archais and the ephemeral.

Umemoto cites far reaching influences, such as, “pre-Columbian rock dwellings, god statues from the Andes or Easter Island, steles deteriorated by rain, remnants of modern cities having survived a cataclysm, fragments of Babylonian cities, colonial settlements brought down to their foundations, cenotaphs abandoned in the jungle…”

The pieces are the opposite of the organic, undulating ceramics one commonly associates with sculptural art. Like an architectural project, Umemoto’s works are calculated, rational and precise. Rather than improvisational expression, his creative process is highly iterative, closer buildering than the traditional ‘sculpting’.

Sometimes dabbling in cast aluminium and plaster, concrete is the predominant medium, giving Umemoto’s portfolio an overall Brutalist aesthetic. Beyond the visual appeal of the rawness of concrete, shrinkage is minimal compared to ceramic materials. This is crucial, as Umemoto’s structures are comprised of modular pieces connected in a precise grid system.

Szigetmonostor no2.

Cubic Geometry SIX : 25.

Stairway no5.

Monuments.

Each piece is made up of puzzle-like sections that can be reorganized and transformed. Umemoto casts the concrete using modular moulds, allowing him to create endless unique pieces with the same set of parts. Highly inspired by primitivism, the underlying sentiment is that anyone the world over, with simple local materials and basic tools, could build the structures.

As a stance against modern society’s endless quest for technological advancement, Umemoto takes a step backwards, seeking to simplify his artistic practices. Resisting the demands of progress, each piece is ‘low tech’ and entirely handmade, rough-edged despite their precision. He is inspired by architectural structures that exist in semi-colonised wild lands, where nature is on the verge of engulfing the man made.

Specific references include, “the modernist complex of Brasilia by Niemeyer, lost in the Amazonian jungle, or of the complex of Chandigarh by Le Corbusier, in the heart of India. The walls rising towards nowhere, the curves running into ceilings, and the staircases leading into the void are reminiscent of the mysterious Prisons of Piranesi.”