Augmented Reality: Isaac Cordal and Sculptures of Isolation

Description

Sculptor Isaac Cordal’s Augmented Reality reveals the increasingly intertwined link between both technology and our daily lives. Building on his Cement Eclipses project — which since 2006 has placed tiny, bald, grey-suited figures in urban cracks and corners — Cordal now stages the same archetype inside Touch Ceramics. Here, domestic and industrial objects — a sardine can, birdcage, face mask, rusted tin — become the architecture of confinement and exposure.

Works such as “Dreamer,” “Isolated” and “Eve and Adam” trace a psychological arc: resignation, distraction, surveillance and the slow sinking into systems indistinguishable from the self. By shrinking the figure, the artist heightens vulnerability and turns mundane items into oversized structures of control, echoing sociologist and philosopher Jean Baudrillard’s notion that the real has been replaced by its miniature, mass-produced copy. Humour and irony remain, yet unease lingers — the same tension between comedy and despair that has defined the project, is now featured within the gallery.

The event is part of Spain in Hong Kong 2026, a campaign which promotes the Iberian country’s culture, gastronomy and traditions, it will also be the artist’s first gallery exhibition in Hong Kong. Alongside the exhibition, there will be an exclusive sculpture workshop called Sculpted in Colour and will be held on 5 September. Paid pre-registration required.