Atelier Van Lieshout

Midwife

2015

COR-TEN steel
240 x 100 x 143 cm

Atelier Van Lieshout has created a series of artworks that symbolize the power of humanity over the natural world, the Domestikator series. These artworks pay tribute to the ingenuity, the sophistication and the capacities of humanity, to the power of organization, and to the use of this power to dominate, domesticate the natural environment.

Our capacity to shape the world, to create culture and wealth is a great achievement. At the same time, our relationship with nature has become severely disrupted, whilst our needs seem to be growing nonetheless. In order to support 7 billion people, agriculture has become an industry, with factory farming and genetic manipulation a necessity. This provides us with an ethical dilemma, as this kind of farming seems to border on abuse. At the same time, the literal abuse of animals, bestiality, is one of the last remaining taboos. Why is it that treating an animal like a fellow human is an unspeakable act, whilst treating an animal like a resource for industrial production is the norm?

Midwife (2015) was part of the following exhibition(s):
‘ArtZuid’, Amsterdam (NL), 2017

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