This 1980 piece marks a major turning point in A.C.M.’s artistic journey: for the first time, he “verticalizes” his assemblages—they are now set upright, like paintings or wall panels. This choice is far from insignificant—it gives the work a new physical presence, endowing it with an almost architectural dimension.

The work is composed of a series of sculpted chalks, methodically fixed onto strips of old parquet flooring, all framed in wood. The choice of materials is central. Chalk—a material associated with schooling, fragile and ephemeral—is here repurposed from its utilitarian function to become a sculptural element. Each piece is cut, shaped, and bound with wire, then attached vertically to the support. The whole is organized into regular rows, evoking a sense of rigorous classification.

This organization echoes the scientific precision of an entomologist: the chalks become unique “specimens,” bearing the marks of the artist’s hand, of time, and of wear. This system of presentation invites close, almost analytical observation.

The play on illusion and repurposing is central: chalk, which traditionally serves as a medium for writing or drawing, becomes an object of contemplation. The parquet, a material usually associated with the floor, is erected vertically, inverting its primary function. This reversal of uses situates the piece within a logic of repurposing, in which ordinary materials are imbued with new artistic and symbolic significance.

Verticalization here is a founding gesture: it transforms the object into a “painting-sculpture,” giving it a frontality and monumentality unprecedented in A.C.M.’s work. It also brings the work closer to the viewer’s gaze, inviting scrutiny as one would a museum display case or an entomologist’s specimen board, reinforcing notions of collection, memory, and inventory.

This piece represents a transition between the artist’s organic material assemblages and the visual language he developed from the 1990s onward, where he favored salvaged materials from industry and technology.

It is structured as a bas-relief or a “layered landscape”: layers of materials accumulate, overlap, and intersect, composing an image that is both chaotic and meticulously orchestrated.

There is a constant tension between the precision of the gesture and the desire to disrupt, disorganize, and allow the material to degrade. The piece functions as a mental architecture or a fragment of a ruined universe, inviting the viewer to read the traces, scars, and strata of a material memory.

This 2000 piece, a teeming vertical structure, evokes at once a fantastical cathedral, an organic machine, and a labyrinth populated by enigmatic figures. It is composed of a meticulous assemblage of repurposed parts: gears, fragments of typewriters, electronic components, wires, shards of mirror. A multitude of stylized human and animal figures can be seen, inserted within the structure or perched atop its protrusions.

The verticality of the piece enhances its monumental quality and invites the viewer to explore it visually, as if it were a miniature city or an impossible machine that cannot be fully deciphered. The surface of the sculpture is deliberately oxidized, worn, sometimes corroded, bearing witness to a process of transformation and erosion masterfully controlled by the artist. Vivid colors punctuate certain details, amplifying the narrative dimension of the work and reinforcing the impression of a world in tension—both poetic and menacing.

This 2010 piece takes the form of a dense and exuberant architectural construction, evoking at once a fantastical city, a complex machine, and a mental landscape. Created from carefully selected salvaged materials—fragments of typewriters, electronic circuits, gears, metal wires, plastic components—it bears the marks of intentional transformation: controlled oxidations, dusty patinas, scratched surfaces, all signs of tense materiality typical of A.C.M.'s aesthetic.

Verticality structures the composition. Towers, walkways, and platforms rise and intertwine, connected to each other by a network of rods and wires, forming a system that is both fragile and skillfully orchestrated. The whole is animated by a profusion of details: small figures, fantastical animals, mobile fragments frozen in mid-motion—all elements that suggest a mechanical movement, suspended in a state of anticipation or silence.

This piece stands out for its “miniature monumentality” and remarkable architectural density. It is constructed from a complex assemblage of salvaged materials: fragments of typewriters, gears, electronic circuits, iron wires, and metallic elements deliberately oxidized by the artist. Stylized figures and fantastical animals are incorporated into the structure, serving as totemic figures or enigmatic presences.

The composition is organized as a teeming vertical city, where modules, towers, and walkways appear both autonomous and organically connected to the whole. The scratched, dusty surfaces and rusted patina reveal meticulous work in transforming and altering the materials. True to A.C.M.’s aesthetic, apparent fragility coexists with mechanical complexity and the memory of objects.