Bubblegum desire

Bubblegum Desire is an organic sculptural installation that emerges forcefully from a narrow cavity in the exhibition space’s wall, disrupting the sterile linearity and controlled atmosphere of the white cube. Constructed from tightly bound magenta plastic gunny bags—materials that frequently recur in my practice for their industrial associations and material politics—the work asserts itself as both a bodily entity and an architectural interruption. Its bulging, muscular form appears caught in a moment of flux—pushing out, expanding, refusing containment. The candy-coloured surface is simultaneously alluring and grotesque, complicating the viewer’s relationship with the object. It is not merely an aesthetic form, but a charged presence that speaks of labor, tension, containment, and ultimately, resistance. Embedded within this form is a commentary on the city—a space that promises belonging but often structures exclusion. The piece mimics the architectural language of thresholds and in- between zones, inhabiting the liminal space of a wall cavity to highlight how certain bodies or presences are forced to occupy the margins. In doing so, it draws attention to how urban planning and built environments often become tools of socio-economic gatekeeping, scripting access and visibility for a specific class or type of human while rendering others invisible or out of place. Bubblegum Desire thus becomes a sculptural articulation of this urban “othering.” It resists assimilation into the clean geometry of the space and insists on a raw, embodied presence. The work interrogates who gets to take up space, who gets displaced, and how even materials—humble, industrial, disposable—can become sites of protest, survival, and

Created By

Bilal Ahmed