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The waste of my time, Composition #18

Mateo López
The waste of my time, Composition #18, 2020
Recycled cardboard, acrylic paint and grommet
Work: 73 x 65 x 6 cm

The collage works form part of the ongoing series, 'The waste of my time', in which Mateo López repurposes unused materials in his studio. The latest works in this series were made in the artist’s New York studio just before lockdown, using cardboard, acrylic paint and grommet. López draws inspiration from an anecdote on Josef Albers at Bauhaus Preliminary Class in 1923, which encapsulates his playful and paired down approach. As told by López, “Albers entered the classroom with a bundle of newspaper under his arm. ‘Ladies and gentleman’, he said, ‘we are poor and not rich. We cannot afford to waste materials or time. Every piece of work has a starting material, and therefore we must examine the nature of this material. I would like you to take these newspapers in hand and make something more out of them than what they are at present. If you can do so without any accessories, such as cutters, scissors or glue, all the better.”