Atelier Van Lieshout

The Original Dwelling

2015

Atelier Van Lieshout’s sculpture the Original Dwelling is simultaneously a luxurious hang-out and imaginary tribal dwelling; the work takes humankind back to its origins, recalling a primitive state of being.

The Original Dwelling is part of the ongoing series New Tribal Labyrinth which presents a vision of a future, yet primitive, world inhabited by imaginary tribes where there will be different ethics. This world will see a return to farming and industry, to rituals and rites. Atelier Van Lieshout’s cave-like structure fits into a long tradition of troglodyte cave dwellings, which have housed humanity for centuries. This sculpture is at the same time contemporary, idealistic, as well as primeval, making it ‘The Original Dwelling’ in every sense of the word.

The Original Dwelling’s appearance is dictated from the inside out. The interior spaces look like they were hewn out of stone, sculpted around one’s personal wishes and fantasies – an extreme example of ‘Form follows Function’. The Original Dwelling makes a link with the Modernist Movement, but its organic shapes and primitive production methods challenge Modernism.