Air-to-Air (Terminal Pressure)

Door Christophe Muylaert, 2026

40cm x 50cm

This work explores the unmasking of the utilitarian object. Inspired by Martin Heidegger’s phenomenology, a banal foot pump is stripped of its Zuhandenheit (readiness-to-hand). By irrevocably casting the valve into a sphere of transparent epoxy, the instrument's functional outlet is amputated. The pump, originally engineered for expansion and pressure, becomes a monument to obstruction. The title "Air-to-Air" serves as a techno-cynical commentary on the object's internal logic. The movement of air occurs, yet the destination has become the source; a hermetic short circuit. The object is no longer an extension of human will (a tool to inflate a tire), but returns to its essence as an autonomous Ding (Thing). Positioned on a 3D-printed pedestal, the mechanical frustration of non-functionality transforms into an aesthetic contemplation of the materiality of air and the violent silencing of labor.

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