ISOLDE KRAMS/ WESSEL van HYSSTEEN
IT´S SO BEAUTIFUL IT ALMOST LOOKS ARTIFICIAL
Synopsis for video:
21.8.2019 21h
Tapir Gallery | Takt Berlin | Takt Academy | Neue Hochstraße 8 | 13347 Berlin-Mitte
The 32 minute video was performed on the biggest “gold mine dump” in the world outside of Johannesburg, South Africa. The surreal, beautiful landscape was specifically chosen to highlight the present condition of our environment.
The emerald green pond and toxin filled hills are the backdrop for the video.
Three life-sized moving sculpture exist beside each other. It is a schizophrenic
co-existence. The rubber latex sculptures are animated by people inside them; who move, talk, and interact with the viewer. The artworks are given a voice and the ability to move beyond the confines of traditional sculpture.
“Miss World”, “Mensch” and “Schweinehund”, as well as the inanimate “Wolf”, are archetypes in a theater or opera of the absurd and whose performance is
a commentary on society and our interaction with the environment. Positive and negative symbols are juxtaposed and metamorphosed: soft and hard, male and female, familiar and fantastical. “Miss World” from within her globelike skirt delivers a commentary on her condition, whilst performing conjuring tricks and eating fire. Simultaneously, “Scheinehund” displays his
obnoxious behavior and mistreats “Wolf”. The everyman “Mensch” is bullied by “Schweinehund” and generally at a loss as to where to position himself and his burden – a larger-than-life rubber latex female sculpture.
The works and the performance are inspired by a strong personal interest in the human condition and environmental issues. The combination and use of materials is also significant: salt is used with its dual capacity to both corrode and preserve; rubber latex, which evokes skin in its softness, is also
consciously chosen on the basis of being environmentally sound.
