Exploded View

2009

Polyurea
211 x 190 x 258 cm

Joep van Lieshout’s fascination with systems and organs is apparent in his most recent installation, Cradle to Cradle (2009). This art work takes its name from the popular Cradle to Cradle manifesto by the American architect William McDonough and the German chemist Michael Braungart. Cradle to Cradle is based on the concept that waste is food. This means that old materials are used to form new products without loss of quality or waste products. This principle is taken to the extreme in AVL’s installation.

Cradle to Cradle consists of an anatomical theatre, a semi-industrial slaughterhouse and a high-tech operating room. Bones, skulls, muscle groups and organs lie on robust, brightly lit tables. Various flayed bodies hang from rails. This machine recycles people. In a model of efficiency, the organs are used for transplants, while the flesh, fluids, fat and bones are processed into meat. The remainder is used to harvest energy.

Exploded View (2009) was part of the following exhibition(s):
‘SlaveCity’, De Pont, Tilburg (NL), 2016
‘De Kannibaal’
, Villa Zebra, Rotterdam (NL), 2011 – 2012
‘Infernopolis’
, Submarinewharf, Rotterdam (NL), 2010

For enquiries: please contact Atelier Van Lieshout via info@ateliervanlieshout.com