Systems in Collapse

Systems in Collapse
Toby Messenger
Boardroom Committee Room
11/04 – 26/04/2026

For Systems in Collapse, Toby Messenger brings two large sculptures into the Boardroom Committee Room gallery. The first is a half scale model of an Audi Quattro S1, made from recycled wood, cardboard, polystyrene packaging, paper, remnants from the artist’s studio (a large former office space with broad windows closely overlooking the M8); detritus pulled from domestic life, a magpie-like collection of useful parts. The second is that of a Lamborghini Countach in canary yellow, its office-paper-bodywork wrapping another interior of carefully positioned recycled materials. Each sculpture betrays Messenger’s eye for detail, his commitment to doing the object justice. Perhaps images of the garage tinkerer come to mind, or the obsessive car enthusiast anticipating their next collectors’ rally. (But who has a garage? And from where does the fuel come?) But despite their self-confessed “lo-fi” style, there is a specificity that resists any urge to not take them seriously. Within their cardboard bellies, their nearly-bucket-seated centres; in their gesture toward whole machines known with such intimacy – out there at rallies, on driveways, on website listings, wishlists, posters, tiny screens, huge screens, encircling the buildings in which we write, read, watch – a sense of regret? of failure? of disillusionment? Something niggles. Perhaps it’s that collapse encircling. It’s certainly The Strait of Hormuz, the horror around which we must bear witness to and resist.

Boardroom Committee Room is not well positioned as a gallery. Up four flights of stairs, it’s hard to reach. It’s hard, therefore, to get sculpture into it. But as a building formerly used (we presume) for semi-industrious manufacturing or storage, we are blessed with a winch system adjacent to the gallery which allows us to lift larger items in through a window. To accompany the exhibition, Messenger commissioned a short film by Mohamed Fahath Abdhullah [see here], documenting the great feat of flying the Audi Quattro sculpture up the side of the building and lifting it into place in the gallery. Through this behind the scenes – or if I can indulge – the lifting of the bonnet on the exhibition install, it becomes clear that what this work requires is not a solitary figure toiling devotedly. It requires quite a number of people actually, to get it anywhere, get it off the ground. So this is not disillusionment, or a funerary rite at the end of a long era of abundance. This is collaborative work, a resistance to being dismissed as merely anything: as foolish, unproductive, a tenant; Elsewhere, Other, artist.

A key contribution to the show comes in the form of Andy Murray’s accompanying exhibition text, “Icarus Deluxe Vintage Cars”, which playfully expresses some of the more idiosyncratic character play that surrounds Messenger’s work. A short gallop into the confessional-catalogue entry of a tragic car auctioneer, the legendary Audi Quattro (or is it??) is brought to life on the moonlit roads of Motherwell. You can download the PDF of the exhibition hand out here.

Boardroom Committee Room would like to thank all involved in helping make this exhibition come together. Take care out there, tinkerers.

– Kate Holford, Curator
April 2026

Photo credit: Stephen Robinson