Atelier Van Lieshout

Tandtechnisch Laboratorium

2021

Mixed media

This Tandtechnisch laboratorium [dental lab] is a world away from the high-tech workshops that currently turn out tailor-made dentures – some of which even use 3D printers. Here making dentures is still a craft. It is reminiscent of the very first false teeth to be found, that date back some 2,500 years, these were discovered in Mexico and were made by mounting wolf teeth onto human jaws. Recycled teeth and molars are combined into a utilitarian sculpture that not only determines whether or not someone can eat, but also which smile they have to project at the world.

The yellow bin adjacent to the workbench is from Atelier Van Lieshout’s 1990’s Soft Edge series. This recycling, comparable to that of the human ivories, illustrates Joep van Lieshout’s rejection of the sacredness attributed to art. The work is not unassailable and definitely not too good to continue as a footnote to another work.

Tandtechnisch Laboratorium (2021) was part of the following exhibition(s):
EHBO, Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam (NL), 2021 – 2022

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