New York City artist FUTURA2000, in collaboration with Potato Head, has created a sculpture titled 'Pointman - River Warrior,' which was unveiled in Bali, Friday, 9 December 2022. Created using waste collected across the island of Bali, Pointman speaks to Potato Head's ideation that sustainability can be beautiful.
FUTURA2000, initially lauded as a pioneering graffiti artist, is known for his ground-breaking use of abstraction in the 1980s and has always been progressive in his philosophy, methodology, and practice of art. Adjacent to his body of abstract paintings, he has developed a universe and lexicon around an otherworldly character: the Pointman. Over the years, Pointman has taken many forms across drawing, painting, and sculpture. The collaboration with Potato Head sees Pointman emerge with a new mission in the materials of its design. River and ocean pollution has long been a central concern of FUTURA2000. Located on the Hudson River in New York City, the view from his studio of the Statue of Liberty is obscured by vessels transporting trash and free-floating river garbage. In reaction to this, the use of waste for the fabrication of the sculpture is a social commentary on the pollution crisis faced by both rivers and tributaries in New York City, and Southeast Asia.
Since December 9, the courtyard of the OMA-designed Potato Head Studios in Bali has been home to the River Warrior sculpture. For this Pointman, 888kg of plastic from motor oil bottles to discarded water gallon lids sourced by the community organisation, Yayasan Kakikita, were used. The unveiling event brought together traditional Balinese ideals with FUTURA2000's urban aesthetic. It featured a performance by Australian dance company Chunky Move, talks, craft beers, and Balinese food stalls.
Futura Laboratories x Potato Head t-shirts, tote bags, and tumblers were sold at the launch. A portion of the proceeds was donated to Sungai Watch to support their mission of cleaning Bali's rivers.
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