Exploring Lisa Herfeldt's Unsettling Silicone-Gun Sculptures: In Which Objects Seem Alive
If you're planning bathroom renovations, it's advisable not to choose engaging the sculptor for such tasks.
Certainly, she's highly skilled using sealant applicators, creating intriguing creations from this unlikely art material. However the more observe the artworks, the more it becomes apparent that something seems somewhat unnerving.
The thick tubes made of silicone Herfeldt forms stretch beyond their supports where they rest, drooping off the edges to the ground. The gnarled silicone strands swell before bursting open. Some creations leave their acrylic glass box homes entirely, evolving into a collector of debris and fibers. One could imagine the ratings are unlikely to earn favorable.
At times I get this sense that items are alive inside an area,â states the sculptor. âThatâs why I turned to this substance due to its this very bodily sensation and look.â
Indeed one can detect somewhat grotesque in the artist's creations, starting with the phallic bulge jutting out, hernia-like, from the support within the showspace, to the intestinal coils from the material that burst like medical emergencies. Displayed nearby, are mounted images of the works viewed from different angles: they look like wormy parasites picked up on a microscope, or formations on a petri-dish.
What captivates me that there are things within us occurring that also have their own life,â she says. Phenomena which remain unseen or command.â
Talking of unmanageable factors, the promotional image promoting the event displays a picture showing a dripping roof within her workspace in the German capital. Constructed erected decades ago and, she says, was quickly despised from residents as numerous old buildings were torn down for its development. It was already dilapidated when Herfeldt â a native of that city yet raised near Hamburg prior to moving to the capital in her youth â moved in.
This decrepit property was frustrating for her work â it was risky to display the sculptures without concern risk of ruin â however, it was fascinating. Without any blueprints available, no one knew how to repair any of the issues that developed. After a part of the roof within her workspace was saturated enough it collapsed entirely, the single remedy involved installing it with another â and so the cycle continued.
In a different area, Herfeldt says dripping was extreme that a series of drainage containers were set up above the false roof to channel the water to a different sink.
It dawned on me that the building acted as a physical form, an entirely malfunctioning system,â she says.
This scenario reminded her of Dark Star, John Carpenterâs debut movie from the seventies about an AI-powered spacecraft that develops independence. As the exhibition's title suggests given the naming â Alice, Laurie & Ripley â more movies have inspired shaping Herfeldtâs show. The three names refer to main characters in the slasher film, another scary movie and Alien in that order. She mentions a critical analysis written by Carol J Clover, that describes these surviving characters as a unique film trope â female characters isolated to overcome.
These figures are somewhat masculine, reserved in nature and they endure because sheâs quite clever,â says Herfeldt regarding this trope. They avoid substances or engage intimately. It is irrelevant who is watching, we can all identify with the final girl.â
Herfeldt sees a parallel from these protagonists with her creations â objects which only staying put under strain affecting them. So is her work more about cultural decay than just dripping roofs? Because like so many institutions, substances like silicone intended to secure and shield from deterioration are gradually failing around us.
âOh, totally,â responds the artist.
Prior to discovering her medium using foam materials, Herfeldt used different unconventional substances. Recent shows included forms resembling tongues made from fabric similar to typical for on a sleeping bag or inside a jacket. Similarly, one finds the feeling such unusual creations could come alive â some are concertinaed resembling moving larvae, some droop heavily from walls blocking passages collecting debris from touch (She prompts viewers to touch leaving marks on pieces). Similar to the foam artworks, the textile works are also housed in â and escaping from â cheap looking transparent cases. These are unattractive objects, and that's the essence.
âThey have a specific look that draws viewers very attracted to, while also theyâre very disgusting,â the artist comments with a smile. âThe art aims for invisible, but itâs actually extremely obvious.â
The artist does not create pieces that offer comfortable or beauty. Instead, she wants you to feel discomfort, strange, or even humor. But if you start to feel a moist sensation overhead too, remember you havenât been warned.