Bronze relief in wooden cart

51 × 30 × 15cm

2025

Unique piece

This work consists of a solid bronze relief of wooden play blocks, mounted in an original wooden Zorka cart on wheels — the type in which such blocks were originally packaged. The piece can be displayed either on the floor or mounted on the wall, with the cart serving as a frame for the bronze work.

The basis for this piece lies in a personal childhood memory. The first set of wooden blocks I received as a child came in a wooden cart with a sliding lid. This functional object quickly became an inseparable part of the play ritual: carrying it to the play area, and discovering the neatly arranged blocks beneath the lid. The game would end with the ritual of deconstruction, after which the blocks — arranged with precision, as they otherwise wouldn’t fit — were placed back into the cart. Each end of play resulted in a different composition of stored blocks.

Over the years, while collecting wooden play blocks, I also acquired several of these original carts. This series marks the first time I have worked in bronze — a material traditionally associated with classical sculpture and often perceived as rich or prestigious. By mounting the bronze work in the "simple" wooden cart, the question arises: which holds greater value — the cart from the artist's personal collection, or the bronze bas-relief?

Photography: Cedric Verhelst