Love Is A Verb sculpture by Tatiana Brodatch

Love Is A Verb is an exhibition before it is a product line: in 2018, Tatiana Brodatch installed thirty-five modeling clay figurines on a bed for Seletti, accompanied by a stop-motion projection, first in Milan and then in Paris. The manufactured pieces replicate these models while retaining their raw, handmade appearance: the surface remains irregular, the faces are featureless, and it is the posture of the bodies that carries the entire scene. Seletti describes the series as resin sculptures, a material that allows the molded form to be cast without having to smooth it out. Most of the references are sold in pairs: what you are buying is not a figurine, but a situation—two people carrying, fitting into, or turning away from each other, hence the title, love taken as a verb rather than a state. The sizes range from a few centimeters high to about thirty centimeters long, making them better suited for a shelf, console, or desk than a coffee table where people pass by: these are objects meant to be viewed up close. The exact dimensions of each scene are listed in the specifications below, reference by reference, as they vary significantly from one piece to another.

Why these featureless faces

The absence of a face is not a manufacturing shortcut but the very subject of the work. Seletti summarizes it this way on its product sheets: "faceless, yet with the most penetrating gaze," where the doubts and hesitations inherent to human nature become tangible through the mere outline of the body. Concretely, nothing directs the viewer toward a specific identity: it is the position of the two bodies that tells the story, and everyone projects what they wish onto it. This is also what allows these pieces to age without becoming dated.