The Amalgamable Archive explores the urge to brew new meanings from the mixing and blending of existing components. Amalgams are used, in chemistry, to melt various substances into a hodgepodge. Here too, we find alchemist-like approaches providing solutions for enriching existing symbolism with more deeply layered meanings.
Emulsions emerge from well-known images and icons, advocating a meaning that each element alone could not aspire to. See, in this drawer for example, how the representation of the globe forms a mock-caricature of a popular icon on the one hand, while on the other forms a flammable torch indicating a deeply environmentally charged subject. Each blend results in new ambiguous meanings. This savvy competence testifies of the mason’s ability and familiarity with symbols – turning abstract ideas into poignant visual representations.
Typical for this reflective approach to image editing, as can be observed in this archive, is that the emotionally and intellectually resonant visual metaphors are primarily used in socially engaged graphic design: including activism and propaganda. At the same time, this alchemist’s approach seems to be at a decline. It is an expertise threatened with extinction under a mandate of simplicity, minimalism and unambiguous communication strategies, banning this approach to the outskirts of our archive.
