Joseph Breikers | Spine

Using three raw timber packing pallets to form a triangular base over which ten sheets of ply are placed, Brisbane-based artist Joseph Briekers creates Spine (2008), an unusable spine ramp bike that is a full-scale version of a work that was previously made in miniature. Although resembling a makeshift BMX ramp, this work is not interactive, and as such, the expectations that visitors have both of the object and the artists invested effort are called to attention. This notion of futility will be exaggerated by the objects location, resulting in the ramp never actually being used for its intended purpose. A waste of time and energy also carries a certain existential weight, allowing Spine to be read both locally in its referencing of BMX culture, and universally as a monument to the theatre of human folly and frailty.