Monument of Sugar is a research into Europe’s subsidized sugar exports. To turn the flow of sugar around, the artists produced a sugar sculpture in Nigeria and shipped it to Europe. A written essay and documentary sequences chart their investigations into the sugar trade and their experiences when producing and transporting the monument.
We were given permission to work in the National Gallery’s former carport, in the middle of a swamp and baptized as Universal Studios by three woodcarvers: Mr. Bisi, Mr. Monday and Mr. Babatunde. Our minimal intervention proved to be a painstaking procedure. Nigeria’s sweet crystals were more difficult to shape into a stable substance than the ones we were accustomed to in Europe. Our deduction that the fortification had altered the material characteristics was confirmed when we found out that local Coca Cola factories had their sugar delivered without vitamin, because it changed both the colour and the taste and reduced shelf life. Due to the tropical humidity, the already brittle sugar blocks refused to dry out, transforming themselves from sharp white cubes into grimy sagging lumps, with little trace of right angles.
