Anyone who has dined in a well-known fast food restaurant and thought their food tasted remarkably like the box it came in will find a connection to Roxy Paine’s wooden replica Carcass – part of grand-scale two part installation, Apparatus – although that would be missing the New York artist’s point a bit. Not a critique on the merits of franchised French fries, Paine’s large scale diorama is more a meditation on the obsolescence of functional objects when human interaction is removed.

The second of the two pieces, an empty control room (more literal in its title: Control Room), illustrates this with an eerie sense of abandonment. Known for his work sculpting smaller natural objects such as funghi from wood, this project represents something of a change in tack for Paine, although wood (in this case maple and birch) remains a primary material along with steel. The conflict of natural and man-made is another important aspect of Apparatus, which is on show at Chicago’s Kavi Gupta Gallery until 20 December.

@kavigupta

Roxy Paine
Carcass
birch, maple, glass, fluorescent, 2013
13’ 10 13/16” x 20’ 1/2” x 13’ 7” H
Photo by Joseph Rynkiewicz

Roxy Paine
Carcass (detail)
birch, maple, glass, fluorescent, 2013
13’ 10 13/16” x 20’ 1/2” x 13’ 7” H
Photo by Joseph Rynkiewicz

Roxy Paine
Carcass
birch, maple, glass, fluorescent, 2013
13’ 10 13/16” x 20’ 1/2” x 13’ 7” H
Photo by Joseph Rynkiewicz

Roxy Paine
Control Room (detail)
steel, wood, automotive paint,
glass, fluorescent , 2013
12’ 5” x 18’ 2 3/8” x 13’ 7”
Photo by Joseph Rynkiewicz

Roxy Paine
Carcass (detail)
birch, maple, glass, fluorescent, 2013
13’ 10 13/16” x 20’ 1/2” x 13’ 7” H
Photo by Joseph Rynkiewicz

Roxy Paine
Control Room
steel, wood, automotive paint,
glass, fluorescent , 2013
12’ 5” x 18’ 2 3/8” x 13’ 7”
Photo by Joseph Rynkiewicz

Roxy Paine
Control Room (detail)
steel, wood, automotive paint,
glass, fluorescent , 2013
12’ 5” x 18’ 2 3/8” x 13’ 7”
Photo by Joseph Rynkiewicz