Author: Rune

‘Popcorn Travelling Artwork’ Short-film by Rune Bo Jakobsen accompanied by Monica Xiao’s ‘Piano Droplets’: ‘The First Dance’ and ‘Rain Season’

The concept behind the ‘Popcorn’ travelling sculpture is that of expansion and fertility. The popcorn analogy where a tiny seed bursts into a unique sculptural volume can be seen as an expression of life and the growth of the embryo. On one hand, the concept deals with the growth of the individual, yet also the growth of the industrial and physical environment.

The idea was to create an expanding volume using an experimental concrete casting technique where the concrete takes the shape of a textile form. The shape and texture of the sculpture is dictated by the forces and pressures between the flexible skin and the liquid concrete. Expressive tension lines and folds become fossilized in the concrete as if the expansion were frozen in time.
Whilst using industrial materials, the convex shapes are reminiscent of the Maltese Neolithic goddess of fertility. Some casts also contained concave voids, where the sculpture also becomes an introvert space – an opened seed or a womb.

The intention of the project was not only to develop the casting technique; but to bring art out of the museum and directly into the street where the public can touch and perhaps embrace the artwork.

It is a tactile sensory experience: a ‘hug-able’ one tonne concrete popcorn.

The creative process and public engagement has been captured and portrayed in a short-film showing the ‘Popcorn’ travelling to a number of outdoor public locations and events throughout Malta.
Starting in September in the streets of Valletta for the Science in the City; then in October to the gardens of Upper Barrakka for Notte Bianca and in November by the Grand harbour at the Valletta Waterfront. Other hosting locations include Sliema Promenade, Tigné Point, Mater dei Hospital and Zejtun prior to returning to Valletta at the Malta Design Week in May 2014.

During Malta Design Week 2014 the ‘Popcorn’ sculpture along with the experimental test-casts and short-film will be exhibited at Fort St. Elmo, Valletta.