Tower of Babel

Tower of Babel is a circular, coin-like flat sculpture constructed from discarded wooden furniture collected from the streets of Brussels and overlaid with hand-hammered copper plates. The work compresses architectural and historical reference into a single, condensed surface, transforming everyday waste material into a layered sculptural relief. Its circular form suggests both a seal and a relic, while the patched assembly of reclaimed wood retains traces of prior domestic use, embedding fragments of urban life within the object’s structure. The copper covering unifies these disparate elements, introducing a reflective, industrial skin that both preserves and obscures the material beneath. Through this tension between accumulation and compression, the piece evokes the idea of the biblical Tower of Babel as a metaphor for collective ambition, fragmentation, and the layered complexity of human communication and construction.