Exploring the Eerie Silicone-Gun Sculptures: Where Things Appear Animated
When considering washroom remodeling, it's advisable not to choose hiring the sculptor for the job.
Truly, Herfeldt is highly skilled with a silicone gun, creating fascinating creations out of an unusual medium. However as you look at her creations, the stronger one notices that something seems somewhat strange.
The thick lengths made of silicone she produces stretch over their supports where they rest, hanging over the sides below. The knotty foam pipes expand until they split. A few artworks escape their acrylic glass box homes completely, turning into a magnet of debris and fibers. Let's just say the feedback would not be positive.
At times I get an impression that things are alive inside an area,” says the sculptor. Hence I turned to silicone sealant as it offers a distinctly physical sensation and look.”
Certainly one can detect somewhat grotesque about the artist's creations, from the suggestive swelling which extends, like a medical condition, from the support in the centre of the gallery, to the intestinal coils made of silicone which split open like medical emergencies. On one wall, Herfeldt has framed prints showing the pieces seen from various perspectives: resembling squirming organisms picked up on a microscope, or colonies on a petri-dish.
What captivates me that there are things in our bodies happening that also have a life of their own,” Herfeldt explains. “Things that are invisible or control.”
Regarding elements beyond her influence, the promotional image for the show displays a photograph of water damage overhead at her creative space in the German capital. It was made in the seventies and, she says, was quickly despised among the community because a lot of old buildings got demolished in order to make way for it. It was already run-down upon her – a native of that city although she spent her youth north of Hamburg then relocating to Berlin during her teens – took up residence.
The rundown building caused issues to Herfeldt – it was risky to display her pieces anxiously potential harm – but it was also intriguing. With no building plans accessible, no one knew how to repair the malfunctions that arose. Once an overhead section in Herfeldt’s studio became so sodden it gave way completely, the single remedy was to replace the panel with a new one – and so the cycle continued.
At another site, she describes the leaking was so bad that several drainage containers were set up within the drop ceiling in order to redirect leaks to another outlet.
It dawned on me that the structure acted as a physical form, an entirely malfunctioning system,” Herfeldt states.
This scenario evoked memories of Dark Star, John Carpenter’s debut cinematic piece featuring a smart spaceship that develops independence. As the exhibition's title suggests through the heading – three distinct names – more movies have inspired impacting this exhibition. These titles refer to main characters in Friday 13th, Halloween and Alien in that order. Herfeldt cites a critical analysis written by Carol J Clover, outlining these surviving characters an original movie concept – protagonists by themselves to triumph.
They often display toughness, rather quiet enabling their survival due to intelligence,” the artist explains of the archetypal final girl. No drug use occurs or engage intimately. And it doesn’t matter the viewer’s gender, we can all identify with the survivor.”
The artist identifies a similarity from these protagonists and her sculptures – objects which only holding in place under strain affecting them. Does this mean the art really concerning societal collapse than just dripping roofs? Because like so many institutions, substances like silicone that should seal and protect from deterioration are gradually failing within society.
“Oh, totally,” she confirms.
Prior to discovering her medium using foam materials, the artist worked with alternative odd mediums. Recent shows have involved tongue-like shapes using the kind of nylon fabric you might see on a sleeping bag or apparel lining. Once more, there's the feeling these strange items could come alive – some are concertinaed resembling moving larvae, pieces hang loosely off surfaces blocking passages gathering grime from contact (The artist invites viewers to touch and soil the works). Similar to the foam artworks, those fabric pieces also occupy – and escaping from – inexpensive-seeming display enclosures. The pieces are deliberately unappealing, and that's the essence.
“They have a certain aesthetic which makes one highly drawn to, and at the same time they’re very disgusting,” the artist comments with a smile. “It attempts to seem invisible, yet in reality very present.”
Herfeldt's goal isn't work to make you feel ease or visual calm. Rather, she wants you to feel unease, strange, perhaps entertained. And if there's something wet dripping on your head too, don’t say this was foreshadowed.