‘The happy end of a univocal metal taste’, Stefaan Dheedene’s second solo show at Deweer Gallery, was named after the title of the sculpture the artist has made for the show, and which functions as the thematical and structural backbone of it. Dheedene departs from the observation that (production)models which belonged to the social-utopical ideas during modernism, have now commonly made their way into the way we design our environment. Things that were developed and executed back then within the context of belief in social progress, have now become evident and have been converted into efficiency and consumption value, which is applied even in the minimalist package designs of Hema and the furniture at Habitat. All that remains of modernism is a choice of buildings and designs to which we have assigned the role of monuments or forms to commemorate ideological ways of building and thinking. The formal starting point for this exhibition is the use of structures and forms from our everyday architecture and design as references to develop sculptures. The works shown here are objects rather than reflections on our spatial environment. “The referential points for all relations that have the ability to make us move through space are objects” Le Corbusier states. But as an architect and rationalist thinker he feels obliged to add:“Of course, with objects I mean objects that work or function.” All sculptures shown in ‘The happy end of a univocal metal taste’ are based on rational, functional and industrially manufactured objects, turned into semi-autonomous objects by inverting all the parameters. In doing so, Dheedene explores the boundaries between a sculptural, self-sustaining subjective system and a rationally designed, daily material reality. Some objects resemble scale models of existing structures but at the same time refer to furniture and household objects. They often reveal arthistorical links with late modern architecture and classical minimal art but they are more precise and they are provided with figurative associations. All sculptures are clearly defined but nevertheless hesitate about how to play a conventional role, which is a recurring feature in Dheedene’s work.