atelier van lieshout sculpts dark and humorous art village for ruhrtriennale festival

atelier van lieshout sculpts dark and humorous art village for ruhrtriennale festival
photo by atelier van lieshout

forming a lively and chaotic place for visitors to the annual ruhrtriennale festival in bochum, germany, atelier van lieshout has channeled recurrent themes of sexuality, humor and human existence for the installation ‘the good, the bad and the ugly’. the series of sculptures, habitats and immersive environments that form the monumental art village comprises a collection of both iconographic pieces and new works, each embracing a duality between dark and humorous motifs.

installation view of ‘domestikator’ at ruhrtriennale, 2015
photo by heike kandalowski

iconic existing pieces and sculptural spaces are distributed around the former industrial ruhrgebiet site including ‘bar rectum’, a cocktail cafe that takes its shape from the human digestive system; ‘the heads, claudia & hermann’, two hollow, face-shaped dwellings; and ‘refectorium’, a theater, meeting point, restaurant and foyer.

installation view of ‘domestikator’
photo by heike kandalowski

the focal point of the entire installation, however, is the new work ‘domestikator’ – a monumental, functional artwork that serves as a totem, temple and beacon within the ruhrtriennale’s grounds. the towering figures serve as a symbol for the power of humanity, paying homage to the ingenuity and capacity of humans, but the eventual use of this power to dominate and domesticate the natural environment. the act of domestication, however, often leads to boundaries being sought or even crossed. only a few taboos remain, and it is these taboos that the ‘domestikator’ seeks to address, bringing to mind the ethical dilemmas of our time like bestiality, production and consumption.

the installations by night
photo by atelier van lieshout