Atelier Van Lieshout

“Throne, watchtower, pulpit, pot, cocoon, module, spaceship, mutating virus, living organism, arthropod, liberté, égalité, fraternité, peace, pis, everything your heart desires, urinal, vomatorium, ejaculatorium, excrementorium, king of toilets, compost to the people.”

When one visits AVL’s Excrementus Megalomanus, one leaves behind the turbulence of daily life by towering above it. Becoming part of the recycling process, while exhibiting yourself.

Human waste systems and toilets have always been part of Atelier Van Lieshout’s work. They are functional sculptures on the border between art, design and architecture, one of the boundaries that AVL often plays with and rebels against. A compost toilet is a very simple way to efficiently recycle every human excretion imaginable. It made its first appearance in the oeuvre of AVL in 2001 during AVL-Ville, the anarchist and self-sufficient free state in the port of Rotterdam.

Voluminous and yet respectful, this distinctive artwork revives the idea of Drei Grazien (Three Graces) to whom we attribute incomparable gracefulness. Appearing both figurative and abstract, the megalithic sculptures—influenced by light and shadow—offer a constantly changing presence. Based upon the ideal number 3 and set at the meeting point of three roads, the sculptures have the appearance of mythical figures ascending from the depths. Primal conceptions of coming to be and passing away come alive along with the reference to the eclogite occurrence in the nearby Hohlfelsen rock. “You might think that these three voluptuous female figures—once hidden below the Austrian soil—have finally found their way to the surface”, says Joep van Lieshout. This also puts time into perspective, interweaving the past, the present and the future world of imagination and visualizing constant change.

Commission
Location: Wies, Austria

at Station Kampen, The Netherlands

Reclining Figure is an elegant and intimate sculpture of a woman, a portrayal of beauty and female strength. She is a primal mother; warm and sensitive, but strong, being able to easily hold the weight of eight.

60 x 40 x 40 is part of the RENEGADE series. With RENEGADE Van Lieshout defines art on his own terms. He challenges the market while giving it what it wants: Van Lieshout, the artist sometimes referred to as designer, will make or take an artwork and turn it into design by just adding a lampshade. With incredible speed Atelier Van Lieshout sculpts a multitude of lamps at a time, thereby quickly accumulating an amount that can spread through the art world like a virus. By adding a lampshade, Van Lieshout presents this new group of works to the public as if it were quickly assembled DIY furniture: large quantities, functional and very accessible.

Boem Boem is part of the RENEGADE series. With RENEGADE Van Lieshout defines art on his own terms. He challenges the market while giving it what it wants: Van Lieshout, the artist sometimes referred to as designer, will make or take an artwork and turn it into design by just adding a lampshade. With incredible speed Atelier Van Lieshout sculpts a multitude of lamps at a time, thereby quickly accumulating an amount that can spread through the art world like a virus. By adding a lampshade, Van Lieshout presents this new group of works to the public as if it were quickly assembled DIY furniture: large quantities, functional and very accessible.

The Humanoids in the Collins Canal Park are a classic representation of the work of Joep van Lieshout. Van Lieshout is a Dutch artist who is internationally recognized for his sculptures, large-scale installations and public artworks. These works, which reflect society, usually become destinations and serve as place makers in their environment.

The Humanoids created for the park in Miami Beach, are part of his ongoing fascination with man, machine and humanity. They appear as abstract figures, which use the park and the natural environment as their habitat, formulating a subtle statement about our relationship to nature and our origins. The sculptures will be placed throughout the park, along the canal and amidst the trees. The Humanoids invite visitors to engage, stimulate social interaction and contemplation, whether it be to use them as rendezvous spots, places to remember, sketch, write, think or talk.

Half machine, half organism, The Chicken of the Future has no conscience, feels no pain and solely contains the mechanism of the egg production without showing the recognisable features of the animal. AVL presents a farfetched, science-fiction like solution for the world food problem.

Pendulum (2019) is a massive, mechanical clock powered by a swinging pendulum. The clock’s hands tick loudly, ominously counting down to the “end of everything” which then ushers in the “beginning of everything” – a perpetual cycle of destruction and creation characteristic of our constant search for utopia.

Pendulum (2019) was part of the following exhibition(s):

‘The CryptoFuturist and The New Tribal Labyrinth’, Pioneer Works, New York (USA)

The Pipe-bomb Clocks are steel, working clockworks attached to pipe-bombs on a steel frame and pedestal. These improvised explosive devices suggests that time is running out, but at least we can keep count whilst it does.

Hourglass Walking Stick is a slender stick divided by a working hourglass. This old time-telling apparatus can be turned over whilst walking, changing the perception of time for an activity as timeless as walking. The stick is placed in a holder, but can be detached to be used as a walking stick.

Suspended Hourglass shows the passing of time and plays with the concept of time, which is perceived a constant in our lives. The work is a working hourglass – an old time-telling apparatus – but also a reference to the end of times and the temporality of human life.

This forged steel gallows with the attached hourglass are part of a series that Van Lieshout has been creating regarding this concept of time. This series of works imagines what may happen if this concept that determines our lives, our rhythm and our pace, is altered to become something we cannot quite grasp. Van Lieshout plays with mankind’s one certainty, which is that time always goes on, that the clock never stops ticking and that everything will continue to change. This series about time is part of the Cryptofuturism project.

The Sower, a classic theme in the art world is a monument to the orginal farmer. He is submitted to nature, but at the same time changes nature by sowing the land and therefore subjecting it to his will. The sculpture is both a referal to the art of the Russian constructivists, as well as that of the Flemish Primitives.

The purpose-built Drop Hammer House was created specifically for the NDSM to represent destruction, recycling and production in a circular economy. “A circular economy could be very positive: no waste, reuse of products, smart recycling, no exhaustion of energy and materials. It relates back to the concept in my work Cradle to cradle in the SlaveCity Project, where even the recycling of humans was a rational thing: humans to be used and reused without ethical concern. We celebrate destruction without a clear goal, melting objects and using wreckage to make sculpture. In doing so, we lure the dark side towards an optimistic, circular economy.”

This totem forms the centrepiece of the large-scale project The End of Everything; it is the ultimate destructor, whilst at the same time the creator of new work. The work is a machine of destruction as well as a home, providing room for the Venus/destructor to become one with the process of destruction.

Walking Stick (4) is a long stick with a small, sculptural head containing two eggs; the stick presents more subtle references to themes such as fertility and captivity.

This staff-shaped “walking stick” follows three previous works in the same series, all of which are sculptures that seem sceptres of wisdom. These refer to the visionaries, the forerunners who redeem the masses and lead the way to the future. These new staffs refer to fertility, the beginning of something new, hence providing a prophetic vision of the near start of the future. The staffs question the position of visionaries and prophets, and the steps one needs to take before reaching the path that leads to this future.

The relevance of these works become clear through a question posed by Van Lieshout himself: “Isn’t it the staff which leads the way, even before the visionary himself reaches the path to enlightenment? We should follow it in order to reach utopia, a new world, despite the uncertainty or risk involved.”

Walking Stick (3) is a slender stick from which extend differently sized egg shapes; the stick stands for fertility, strength and advancement. The stick is placed in a holder, but can be detached to be used as a walking stick.

This staff-shaped “walking stick” follows two previous works in the same series, all of which are sculptures that seem sceptres of wisdom. These refer to the visionaries, the forerunners who redeem the masses and lead the way to the future. These new staffs refer to fertility, the beginning of something new, hence providing a prophetic vision of the near start of the future. The staffs question the position of visionaries and prophets, and the steps one needs to take before reaching the path that leads to this future.

The relevance of these works become clear through a question posed by Van Lieshout himself: “Isn’t it the staff which leads the way, even before the visionary himself reaches the path to enlightenment? We should follow it in order to reach utopia, a new world, despite the uncertainty or risk involved.”

Death, just like the Philosopher, is part of the four sculptures representing the future leaders of the CryptoFuturism Movement.

Artist, Artist producing and Curator are a series of works presenting the creatives as beggars; the scum of today’s society. The different sculptures form a group, which confirms and ridicules the position that these ‘slaves’ of the arts sector find themselves in.

This new group of sculptures was created as part of the Cryptofuturism project; in which Joep van Lieshout revisits the Italian Futurists a century later to look at resonances between emerging Fascist tendencies today, using his art to reveal the interplay between Utopia and destruction. Van Lieshout embraces emerging technologies from genetic manipulation to robotics and big data to draw parallels between the societal threats faced in the early 20th century and the perhaps graver circumstances we face today. The question is whether these figures present the position of the artist and the curator in this new world Van Lieshout creates, or if they represent their position in society today.

The work resembles a group of rocks scattered around the landscape by nature, forming a pathway for water and man. Troglodyte serves as a home for de Neerpeltse Watersportclub in Belgium.

Since the beginning of modern society, rats have played a role in culture and science. The animals often revoke a sense of fear and horror. Atelier Van Lieshout however would like to stress the positive sides of the rat. They are considered highly intelligent, are adaptive if the environment changes, agile and sensitive, and very able to take care of themselves. Considering these positive notions, one could easily see the human side of the animal. The rat could be envisioned as the animal of the future; an animal that will always be here; an animal that we should look upon as a friend instead of a foe. Just like the artist himself. 

Artist, Artist Producing and Curator are a series of works presenting the creatives as beggars; the scum of today’s society. The different sculptures form a group, which confirms and ridicules the position that these ‘slaves’ of the arts sector find themselves in.

This new group of sculptures was created as part of the Cryptofuturism project; in which Joep van Lieshout revisits the Italian Futurists a century later to look at resonances between emerging Fascist tendencies today, using his art to reveal the interplay between Utopia and destruction. Van Lieshout embraces emerging technologies from genetic manipulation to robotics and big data to draw parallels between the societal threats faced in the early 20th century and the perhaps graver circumstances we face today. The question is whether these figures present the position of the artist and the curator in this new world Van Lieshout creates, or if they represent their position in society today.

Artist, Artist producing and Curator are a series of works presenting the creatives as beggars; the scum of today’s society. The different sculptures form a group, which confirms and ridicules the position that these ‘slaves’ of the arts sector find themselves in.

This new group of sculptures was created as part of the Cryptofuturism project; in which Joep van Lieshout revisits the Italian Futurists a century later to look at resonances between emerging Fascist tendencies today, using his art to reveal the interplay between Utopia and destruction. Van Lieshout embraces emerging technologies from genetic manipulation to robotics and big data to draw parallels between the societal threats faced in the early 20th century and the perhaps graver circumstances we face today. The question is whether these figures present the position of the artist and the curator in this new world Van Lieshout creates, or if they represent their position in society today.

At Koorkerkplein in Middelburg (the Netherlands), Atelier Van Lieshout has installed a new work entitled Cage (Huis). The work consists out of three steel cages, which have been pressed together and pulled apart. This process has transformed the rational and strict geometry of the original cages to become an organic and fictile-looking sculpture that immediately questions the notion of freedom.

Atelier Van Lieshout’s work often refers to systems in which mankind functions today. This work too considers those systems and encourages the viewer to reflect on the role of mankind within the societal, political and economic systems. Humans now wish to free themselves from the exact same systems, hoping to break free from what they have brought upon themselves.

The gesamtkunstwerk The End of Everything is the artist’s reflection on art, the current market climate and a comment on human consumption patterns. With this work, Joep van Lieshout would like to ‘blaze a trail through this imbalance, to destroy and renew, start again with what is good – to recycle’.

The installation consists of a group of raw, industrial artworks – Der Fliegende Holländer, The Press, The Hammer and The Shredder. These may be interpreted as machines for either construction or destruction, as a negative or positive force, as a break from tradition and a change for the future. The primary goal is to recycle, be it scrap, consumer goods, artworks, even Joep van Lieshout’s own creations.

The starting point for Les Acrobates is the notion of collaboration, science and creativity, which is central to its location, next to the research centre Inria in Saclay, Île-de-France. The work is made from galvanised steel, after which it was deformed by hydraulic presses in a controlled, uncontrolled manner, and welded. The result is a playful, happy double human form built on top of one another. Just like in science and research, this work of art was created by a process of trial and error.

Les Acrobates symbolises collaboration and solidarity. With a mirrored double human figure, the work refers to an equilibrium, a constant and familiar structure. But also, it shows a moment of successful completion, a breakthrough – the irrational process that follows scientific research. The sculpture is an homage to the intangible which forms the basis of everything, but especially of science: creativity, imagination and dreams.

The gesamtkunstwerk The End of Everything is the artist’s reflection on art, the current market climate and a comment on human consumption patterns. With this work, Joep van Lieshout would like to ‘blaze a trail through this imbalance, to destroy and renew, start again with what is good – to recycle’.

The installation consists of a group of raw, industrial artworks – Der Fliegende Holländer, The Press, The Hammer and The Shredder. These may be interpreted as machines for either construction or destruction, as a negative or positive force, as a break from tradition and a change for the future. The primary goal is to recycle, be it scrap, consumer goods, artworks, even Joep van Lieshout’s own creations.

The Philosopher shows an almost owl-like, cubist figure, supposedly representing wisdom. The figure is cast in aluminium and has kept its rough surfaces, keeping it an unpolished creature. The Philosopher is accompanied by Death and The Leader.

This trinity is part of Atelier Van Lieshout’s larger project Cryptofuturism. Through this body of work, Van Lieshout translates Futurism, the art movement of the early 20th century, into 21st century contemporaneity in a disruptive manner. Technology, big data, acceleration, conflict, aggression, robotics and recycling are mixed with poetry and romanticism. Not only do they show a new direction in the oeuvre of Van Lieshout, but they also offer us a glimpse of a possible future under construction, based, on the one hand, on destruction and deconstruction. Yet, on the other hand, the work depicts the optimism of (re-)construction and new energy. Past and future, modernism and primitivism, the rational and the irrational, utopia and dystopia, art, energy and science are brought together and investigated. In this way, Van Lieshout creates new systems and worldviews on the ruins of the past.

The gesamtkunstwerk The End of Everything is the artist’s reflection on art, the current market climate and a comment on human consumption patterns. With this work, Joep van Lieshout would like to ‘blaze a trail through this imbalance, to destroy and renew, start again with what is good – to recycle’.

The installation consists of a group of raw, industrial artworks – The Roller, The Press, The Hammer and The Shredder. These may be interpreted as machines for either construction or destruction, as a negative or positive force, as a break from tradition and a change for the future. The primary goal is to recycle, be it scrap, consumer goods, artworks, even Joep van Lieshout’s own creations.

The Hammer is made up of a ships’ engine, a huge concrete counterweight, and a sixthousand kilogram heavy steel hammerblock. This weight can be hoisted to the towers’ highest point and released in an alldestructive free fall. Notwithstanding its shattering force, The Hammer appears elegant and carefully engineered – with a slightly raw, frayed edge.

The gesamtkunstwerk The End of Everything is the artist’s reflection on art, the current market climate and a comment on human consumption patterns. With this work, Joep van Lieshout would like to ‘blaze a trail through this imbalance, to destroy and renew, start again with what is good – to recycle’.

The installation consists of a group of raw, industrial artworks – Der Fliegende Holländer, The Press, The Hammer and The Shredder. These may be interpreted as machines for either construction or destruction, as a negative or positive force, as a break from tradition and a change for the future. The primary goal is to recycle, be it scrap, consumer goods, artworks, even Joep van Lieshout’s own creations.

The gesamtkunstwerk The End of Everything is the artist’s reflection on art, the current market climate and a comment on human consumption patterns. With this work, Joep van Lieshout would like to ‘blaze a trail through this imbalance, to destroy and renew, start again with what is good – to recycle’.

The installation consists of a group of raw, industrial artworks – Der Fliegende Holländer, The Press, The Hammer and The Shredder. These may be interpreted as machines for either construction or destruction, as a negative or positive force, as a break from tradition and a change for the future. The primary goal is to recycle, be it scrap, consumer goods, artworks, even Joep van Lieshout’s own creations.

Joep van Lieshout’s new body of work, Crypto-Futurism, in which Van Lieshout revisits the Italian Futurists a century later to look at resonances between emerging Fascist tendencies today, using his art to reveal the interplay between Utopia and destruction. Van Lieshout embraces emerging technologies from genetic manipulation to robotics and big data to draw parallels between the societal threats faced in the early 20th century and the perhaps graver circumstances we face today. Starting his research by building huge machines in order to destroy or recycle all possible materials, Joep van Lieshout deconstructs notions of sustainability with techno modernist speed, playing a dangerous game with nostalgia for bygone political theorems.

The gesamtkunstwerk The End of Everything is the artist’s reflection on art, the current market climate and a comment on human consumption patterns. With this work, Joep van Lieshout would like to ‘blaze a trail through this imbalance, to destroy and renew, start again with what is good – to recycle’.

The installation consists of a group of raw, industrial artworks – Der Fliegende Holländer, The Press, The Hammer and The Shredder. These may be interpreted as machines for either construction or destruction, as a negative or positive force, as a break from tradition and a change for the future. The primary goal is to recycle, be it scrap, consumer goods, artworks, even Joep van Lieshout’s own creations.

Pulse is an interactive installation which aims to engage the inhabitants of Graz and to be at the heart of the community, expressing the pulse, the life of the city. The artwork is as a beacon, sending out lightsignals. These lightsignals will ‘beat’ to the same ‘rhytym’ as the pulse of a human heart. Every time a child is born in the Graz – which is approximately 11 times a day – the pulse and the intensity of the light will become stronger.

With this artwork, Atelier Van Lieshout wants to create a poetic collective moment for the citizens of Graz. Every time Pulse’s light intensifies, the artwork will celebrate the beginning of a human life, a new member of the community added. The artwork will enhance the existing sense of community, both by creating a collective experience and by serving as a physical landmark.