triennial | ottignies, BE

In Modular Embodiments, Nicolás Lamas explores the body as a fragmented, distributed entity, interconnected with the material world. The installation unfolds across modular shelves where objects, materials, images, and texts form an open network in which the organic, the technological, and the industrial intersect. Within this system, 75 kilograms of clay—the equivalent of the artist’s own body weight—were shaped into random forms bearing the imprints of discarded clothing. These pieces, resembling industrial fossils, establish ambiguous dialogues with other references to human anatomy dispersed throughout the installation. This fragmented body becomes a collective and incomplete archive that transcends its boundaries, expanding into the exhibition space and oscillating between presence and absence.

 

Far from being presented as a closed or unitary form, the body is proposed as a precarious, distributed system composed of traces and vestiges that reveal the ephemeral nature of matter and existence. Corporality is understood as a continuous process of negotiation, extending beyond skin, organs, and bones into hybrid assemblages that redefine its function and configuration. By arranging these elements within modular structures, Lamas creates an open relational network in which identity and memory unfold through dynamic exchanges with matter, time, and space.