Concerning himself primarily with the idiosyncrasies of prescribed value, Michael Craig-Martin suggests that “we often look for the special in special objects or special events, but actually, if we understood the quality of ordinary things, we are closer to the substance of life.” Objects of our Time, a series of twelve screenprinted images, exemplifies this contention by isolating and, in doing so, elevating objects from the clutter of daily modern life. This draws parallels to Warholian practices of spotlighting and repeating everyday objects such as Campbell’s Soup cans, yet Craig-Martin’s works have a markedly distinct aesthetic. In the present lot, a battery, microphone and memory chip are rendered in Craig-Martin’s quintessential visual language of simplified graphic form and vibrant colours. In inviting us to reconsider the objects we regularly interact with, Craig-Martin urges us to see and admire the aesthetic beauty of ordinary objects that populate modern life.
“We often look for the special in special objects or special events, but actually, if we understood the quality of ordinary things, we are closer to the substance of life.”
—Michael Craig-Martin
