From July 18th you can explore the Merwe-Vier-
haven (M4H) area of west Rotterdam through Let’s Get Physical, a sculpture route of 30+ large-scale sculptures
by Atelier Van Lieshout presented at
13 locations.
Atelier Van Lieshout, the studio founded by artist Joep van Lieshout, was in the 1980’s one of the first art
studios to settle here. This relatively unknown part of Rotterdam is now a district thriving with
culture, food, design and technology innovators.
Let’s Get Physical is a dynamic exploration of the burgeoning industrial Merwe-Vierhaven area in the west of
Rotterdam. It is also a celebration of our regained freedom to be outside, to engage with others, and to be
physically active.
Let’s Get Physical starts at AVL Mundo
Sculpture Park which serves as home base with an evolving installation, featuring The Technocrat (2003), a
complex closed circuit of food, alcohol, excrement and energy, in which mankind’s waste – and man himself –
is used as the raw material for the production of biogas. Additional works are in site-relevant dialogue
throughout the region at twelve additional participating locations: Weelde, Floating Farm, Keilecafé,
Keilepand, De Voedseltuin, Keilewerf, Stichting Dakpark, The Lee
Towers, CrossFit Nultien and several locations
in the public space.
The work of Atelier Van Lieshout investigates critical issues of our time. From animal welfare in factory farming to our destructive agricultural practices; the organization of a society geared towards premium production efficiency and ever-increasing consumption; cycles of life sex, and death. Constant is the tension between society and the system, the individual versus the greater whole. Atelier Van Lieshout’s work simultaneously breathes cheerful cynicism and pessimistic utopianism.