![]() |
| ||
| NEWEST TRENDS . SEARCH . BUY . JOIN . COLLECT . RESEARCH . READ . DISCUSS | |||
|
Indepth Arts News: "Bonnefantopia: Installation by Atelier van Lieshout" 2003-02-07 until 2004-01-01 Bonnefanten Museum Maastricht, , NL Netherlands
Bonnefantopia is a one-storey opened-out structure made from untreated wood, scaffolding materials and polished fibreglass housing several functions: toilet, shower, kitchen and luxury lounge bed with special lighting, music and spirits, a fitness room and an SM room. The structure as a whole is a cross between a living room for the contemporary hedonist and a location for erotic torture. Hanging, squatting and lying down throughout the structure are stylised polyester bodies reminiscent of both Henry Moore’s and Francis Bacon’s human figures.
The ‘DIY SM centre’ that Bonnefantopia actually represents fits in well with Van Lieshout’s objective of achieving an autarkic existence aimed at indulging in primary needs. It is his answer to our Western, overregulated, reason-based society – the esthetic and ethical neatness of the Netherlands. Living life as a free spirit in the Netherlands? That is only possible when you are a scrap merchant... or an artist.
A logical supplement to the installation is an ensemble of eleven works on paper, which can be considered a catalogue of opportunities within the Bonnefantopia. The deliberate clumsiness of the drawings (hand-coloured photocopies) converts the ‘DIY principle’ that is at the heart of Van Lieshout’s entire oeuvre into a high ‘I can do this too’ level.
The recalcitrant consumer art created by the Rotterdam group of artists called Atelier van Lieshout (AVL for short) has been in considerable demand among museums and other cultural institutes in the Netherlands and abroad. The mostly fibreglass objects, furniture, machines and luxury mobile living units are surprisingly ingenuous, multifunctional and intriguing in their form and content.
IMAGE:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||