SIZALGIORZ, 2009
- 2011
print mounted on pvc
155 x 120 cm, framed 159 x 124 cm
61 x 47.2 inches, framed 62.6 x 48.8 inches
This series exists of multiple 2D drawings, each inspired by images from medical manuals (human and animal anatomy, organs, muscles, bones, ...), ethnic masks and elements from science fiction (wolverine, aliens,...). Drawing on techniques from American comic strips of the 90’s, Nick Ervinck creates a peculiar spatial feeling on a 2D surface: flatness is raised to a new level. The images embrace elements from high and low culture. Inca-masks are combined with elements derived from science-fiction and computer games. Evinck is fascinated by the eclectic composite forms and stories of popular culture: the movie stargate for instance combines Egyptian culture with extraterrestrial life and space ships. This way, Ervinck wants to create a balanced complexity: a struggle as well as an embrace between two identities. The result is a perfectly symmetrical cyborg figure.
As predators, this creatures hover somewhere between the organic and the mechanical. That way, Ervinck’s works show a longing for the scientific feasibility of the human body. References can be made to the 19th century ‘automaton’ and the later on ‘android robots’ and ‘cyborgs’. Possibly, this development will result in the complete merger of human and technology and consequently the disappearing of the human body. Just like AGRIEBORZ, this series of drawing thus not only points to a growing tendency of integrating technology in the human body. It also uses the intriguing possibility to use living tissue as technological material. We are already capable of creating replicas of human bones on the basis of 3D-models from CAT-scans. Bio printing, a new technology used to print organs, will be further developed and commercialized. The importance of Ervinck’s work lies in the fact that he uses these technological developments in an early stage and develops a typical and highly recognizable imagery. Working in a close parallel to science he is able to develop new realities that can in turn inspire scientists.