Cassian Robbertze South African, b. 1997
Obelisk is a smaller bronze work conceived as a technological relic within a speculative, post-apocalyptic world. Its form draws from the ancient monument, but its surface is embedded with circuitry and wiring, traces of a function that once existed, now irretrievable. The object stands as evidence of a lost system: something engineered with purpose, yet no longer legible to those who encounter it.
Within this imagined future, such artifacts persist without explanation. Devoid of context, they are reinterpreted, mythologised, and absorbed into new cultural frameworks. In this way, Obelisk reflects the shifting relationship between object and meaning, how function dissolves over time, leaving only form, presence, and speculation.
The work also operates as part of a modular environment. Designed to sit alongside figures such as The Chantress, it contributes to a broader landscape that can be arranged and reconfigured by the viewer. Each configuration produces a different reading of the world, positioning the collector not only as observer, but as participant in its construction.
Its visual language draws on the enduring monumentality of Ancient Egypt, where many structures, despite extensive study, remain partially understood. Like these historical sites, Obelisk exists beyond fixed interpretation. It does not disclose its purpose; instead, it invites projection, becoming a surface onto which meaning is continually assigned.