The Kiss

source: herzliyamuseum

In this work, the artist undertakes the Sisyphean task of chipping away at the layer of concete surrounding his head with the help of a chisel and a hammer. The digging gesture might symbolize his concern with self-exploration, and his quest to uncover what lies deep within his thoughts. This excavation project, which is repeated in a continuous loop, appears as a continuous process with no clear end in sight. Loving couples tend to influence each other’s behavior, perceptions and taste as their relationship evolves. The body gestures performed by the lovers in this work symbolically represent this sort of dynamic: as they embrace, they “mold” each other’s heads, as if shaping each other’s opinions and thoughts. They seem to merge into one entity, while at the same time remaining separate from one another. Their relationship thus appears as a never-ending process of mutual adaptation and development.
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source: openvideoprojects

In the recent series of videos people perfunctorily prod wet clay with their hands or repetitively chip away at concrete that covers parts of their clothed body or the surrounding space, such as an external suburban wall or the dashboard of a car, to humorously unsettling effect. Chipping away at a lump of concrete which buries the head could reflect a desire to brutally shed light onto a disturbed state of mind. The relationship between the two figures who blindly caress each others’ soft clay covered heads seems to embody a paradox of desire and repulsion.

These visceral encounters depict a transgression of discrete bodily boundaries between individuals and their environment, creating an abject sense of formlessness, and an entropic return to the gunge of the earthly ground. The protagonists seem passively trapped in an endless cycle, with the video loop perhaps referring to a Sisyphean notion of absurdity deriving from ongoing struggle as opposed to final conclusion.
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source: midnighteast

Emotion – in this case love -is marvelously expressed in The Kiss, one of two short videos exhibited by William Cobbing. In this work, two people face each other, standing close, their heads totally covered in soft clay. During the course of the film, their hands continuously mould the ‘head’ of their partner: a truly effective metaphor for physical and emotional closeness and the desire for continual adaptation in order to meet the needs of a loved one.
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source: voltashow

Born 1974 in London, U.K.

William Cobbing is an artist living and working in London. Starting from a sculptural sensibility his artwork encompasses a diverse range of media, including video, installation and performance. In the artworks, people are often depicted as being fused with the surrounding architecture, as extensions of the plumbing, or buried under layers of clay or concrete, from which they absurdly struggle to extricate themselves. The space in which he installs the artwork is where it takes shape, often responding to the layout of a gallery or an external context such as the façade of a building, or through replacing manhole covers in the street. The artworks have a surreal, uncanny sensibility, creating an incongruent sensation in otherwise mundane situations.