Los Angeles-born artist Mark Bradford sources his materials from his surroundings. For the past decade he has amassed remnants of magazines, newspapers and billboards to constitute the resources for his evocative, large-scale collages and installations. The sculptural spheres, designed to replicate soccer balls, are symbols used to exemplify social and cultural issues. They are held together with the signature cord netting, predictable in presentation but innovative in substance and creation. The artist states that his works engage in a complex process that makes use of both creation and destruction: the elements of his oeuvre have been separated and estranged yet reassembled to form a unique, unexpected and cohesive whole.

The sculptural series was first presented at the California Biennial in 2004 and can now be seen to exemplify the artist’s installation works. The intricately made pieces both record the artist’s personal response to his origins, carried out and soured from his town of birth, and catalogue cultural change and media influence on contemporary society as a whole. Double Speak, in its various mediums and quintessential subject matter, alludes to both urban and virtual landscapes. Despite its straightforward superficiality, on closer inspection, Double Speak explores the structures of urban culture and resonates with complex social undercurrents.

The present lot reflects the struggles of contemporary society due to the ever-changing cultural diversity of his south central L.A. neighbourhood. The accumulation of the various, diverse materials represents the mix of individuals in modern civilisation and their varying interests. The artist states that the importance of soccer balls within this message is a result of his observation regarding the change from basket-ball players to soccer-players and aficionados in his neighbourhood. The work represents continuity and progress, reflecting how society makes use of fragments and elements of the past to form its present and delineate its future.