Radical Ephemera are one-of-a-kind works by
FRIX, created on a reclaimed
paper and posters that were originally surplus, damaged, or destined for disposal.
Rather than obscuring the source material entirely, the original imagery
is deliberately left visible beneath layers of torn paper textures,
stencilled symbols, and hand-applied paint — allowing the past life of
the object to remain present within the finished piece.
At the centre of the composition, a
roughly cross-shaped field of distressed white evokes improvised
repair, protest posters, or emergency bandaging. Onto this surface, FRIX
applies stark black and red iconography: a headphone-clad figure, a
silhouetted body shedding heart-like fragments, graphic lips, and a raw,
expressionistic religious image. The words LOVE and SICK flank the central figure, creating a visual tension between desire, belief, consumption, and exhaustion.
The work deliberately juxtaposes
pop-culture spectacle with human fragility. Familiar cinematic imagery
fades into the background while the surface intervention feels urgent,
handmade, and confrontational — more akin to street action or radical
pamphleteering than traditional fine art. Creases, abrasions, and
imperfections are not corrected; they are integral to the piece,
functioning as a record of both material survival and cultural overload.
Ethos & Process
This artwork is part of the Blink Friction project — an ongoing initiative launched in 2020 by Sarnia de la Maré
to address the vast quantities of surplus, damaged, and discarded
materials generated by the fashion, print, and promotional industries.
Blink Friction began with a fashion-led art show built entirely from
reclaimed and unusable stock, reframing waste as both medium and message
while actively supporting eco-conservation values through reuse rather
than reproduction.
Within this framework, FRIX operates as a brand artist identity dedicated to Radical Ephemera:
works that exist at the intersection of protest, pop archaeology, and
sustainable practice. Each piece is materially singular — shaped by
whatever object has been rescued — and conceptually resistant to mass
replication. No two works can be repeated, because the source materials
themselves are finite.
Brand & Legacy
FRIX is presented as an autonomous
creative identity, allowing Blink Friction to evolve as a platform for
future collaborators while maintaining a consistent visual and ethical
language. For collectors, this means early FRIX works sit at the
foundation of a growing, protected art brand — with clear provenance
tracing back to the original Blink Friction launch and its founding
principles.
Please note:
• This artwork is supplied rolled for safe shipping
• Frame shown in images is for display purposes only
• Surface irregularities, creases, and marks are intentional and form part of the work’s character
• One-of-a-kind — no reproductions
Sigil System (Blink Friction / FRIX)
Embedded
throughout Radical Ephemera are elements from the Blink Friction Sigil
System — a developing visual language that functions as both mark-making
and meaning. These sigils are not decorative motifs; they operate as
symbolic residues, recurring across works in altered forms, scales, and
contexts.
Each sigil is intentionally open-coded rather than
fixed, designed to shift meaning depending on its placement,
orientation, and relationship to the reclaimed surface beneath it.
In this work, the sigils reference:
• Transmission & Interference — headphones, mouths, and fractured
text suggest the overload of broadcast culture and the distortion of
intimacy in mass media
• Consumption & Shedding — the falling
heart-forms imply emotional depletion, desire commodified, or belief
systems breaking away from the body
• Faith, Icon, and Collapse —
the raw religious imagery is treated as a cultural artifact rather than
doctrine, positioned alongside pop spectacle to question what society
venerates, discards, or repurposes
• Repair & Resistance — the
cross-like field of torn white paper echoes emergency repair, protest
wheat-pasting, and ritual covering, reinforcing the ethos of salvage and
survival
The sigils act as anchors — visually arresting points
that recur across the Blink Friction ecosystem, allowing viewers who
look deeper to trace connections between works, eras, and contributors.
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Authorship & Continuity
While
FRIX operates as a distinct artist identity within Blink Friction, the
Sigil System provides continuity across the wider project. Introduced at
the launch of Blink Friction in 2020 by Sarnia de la Maré, the sigils
form part of the project’s foundational language — one that allows
multiple creators to contribute while preserving a coherent ethical and
visual spine.
As Blink Friction evolves, sigils may be
reinterpreted, fragmented, or obscured, but their presence signals
participation in a shared lineage:
radical reuse, cultural interrogation, and eco-conscious creation through reclaimed matter.
Collectors
encountering early FRIX works are therefore acquiring not only a
singular artwork, but a piece of the formative visual grammar of the
Blink Friction project.