Deep Adaptation

Jon Kipps

Exhibition: 7-29 April 2023

I find them something like ‘runes’ built from the off-casts of late capitalism. Something like a Star Trek episode where Kirk and Spock beam down to a new planet to find the locals worshipping a Ford Mondeo hub-cap - holy relics (or in your case materials) from a collapsed society.
- Simon Faithfull, Artist.

Standpoint Gallery presented an exhibition of new sculptures by Jon Kipps, the artist’s first London solo presentation.

‘Deep Adaptation’ was developed over the past year by the London-based artist Jon Kipps. Kipps is interested in the way we choose to model and customise our environments and surrounding commodities, particularly objects associated with asserting or diffusing power, restricting behaviour and understanding social hierarchies. Examples include hostile architecture design, homeless spikes and skate stoppers, as well as car body modifications, coastal defences and less obviously aggressive forms of urban infrastructure, such as in bollards.

Developing from this line of interest, imposing obstacle sculptures, such as Lightning Bolt (2019-23) and Power Trip (2020-23), featured throughout the exhibition as assembled, freestanding objects, as well as flatpack ‘kits’, suspended on bespoke colour-shifting supports. The ‘parts’, when displayed on the wall, fell in very specific arrangements, ready to easily switch back and become fully ‘functional’ as freestanding objects once more. These were unique portable objects, ready to be deployed in a variety of contexts and situations whilst being tailored for the user, like an ex-military vehicle reimagined and customised to accommodate the doomsday prepper’s needs.

The adaptability of the objects were taken a step further with the knowledge that the sculptural outlines were designed to contour around the luggage compartments of the various vehicles that transport them. For example, the need for Power Trip to be transported to Serbia during the 2021 lockdown in a Suzuki Swift and the lopsided outline of Peace Test (2023) takes into account the artist's daughter’s car seat in the family vehicle.

A series of small wall-based sculptures punctured the architecture of the gallery space, some of which exposed unseen layers of the building while subtly fitting into the environment. These works, including Planes Mistaken for Stars (2022) and Yourcodenameis:milo (2022), stemmed from a curiosity about the design of symbols and how we are encouraged to interpret and perceive objects that make up our surroundings.

Like warning markers to guide away from hazards, these arcane architectural fixtures drew the viewer close, creating moments of pause throughout the exhibition. Unlike traditional symbols, which are often designed to associate with a linear message, Kipps’ hybrid sculptural objects explore combinations of broad influences, and are therefore imbued with curious references and connotations.

Kipps is a considered artist, deft with the materials he uses, and while the sculptures are carefully composed and the forms appear assertive, he chooses to undermine this authority by working with waste materials, including offcuts, stickers, paper pulp and unused packaging. He will often manipulate the materials, shifting our perception of them while instilling them with low-fi power. For example, he might spray paint cardboard pulp shapes to resemble a bronze patina or use dyed MDF to suggest a much more robust material such as steel.

More recently, Mycelium packaging has become a key component for the artist. Mycelium is a fungal mass of branched, tubular hyphae, integral to plant and soil health. It can be moulded and grown to form different shapes, providing endless sculptural opportunities without producing a cost to the environment. Such material has the potential to become commonplace in everyday life, replacing polystyrene packaging - humans collaborating with fungi to solve problems created by a consumerist lifestyle.

The title for the exhibition was taken from the climate change paper: ‘Deep Adaptation: A Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy’ by Jem Bendell.