FINAL COLLECTION AT CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS 2018
The following collection mimics historical sculptures in the midst of being transported which also coincides with vandalism. It is the most imperfect moments of a statue’s life.
With this, the statues have a new life, their content is devoured by the contemporary and they no longer hold their royal status.
Our society alterations are more beautiful and certainly more honest than the original idealisations of these works.
Materials used: resin, silk, cotton, wood, Styrofoam, screen printing techniques, digital silk prints, foil, laser cutting, embroidery.
The project was selected for the CSM press show 2018 It has won the Sally Woodward Award.
1. Hermaphrodite ( FENG PFUI TRANSPORT)
The blue textile print is inspired by a vintage mattress that I spotted in the streets. Empty beer cans where laying around it. The mattress had obviously been used by a homeless person.
I wanted the garment to be a mixture of a Maria veil, a muslim headscarf and an ancient Greek male costume.
If laid down, the outline of the garment is like the outline of a dead body at a crime scene but also the silhouette of the “Sleeping Hermaphroditus” by Bernini.
Between the flowers of the print I added multiple graffiti hashtags and I crossed over everything with a quote: “Health and Safety Kills Too”. In London I was triggered by all the health & safety rules you have to mind: “stand behind the yellow line”/“Please mind the gap”/“Please mind your head”. It can become frustrating. Instead of becoming internally aware of things, you constantly get the impression you have to fear something. Instead of using our common sense we start thinking less as we follow the signs, warnings and announcements. It’s a fake solution. This in the long-term only makes society more ignorant instead of saving it. That is why Health & Safety kills too.
Material: Wood, organic silk, organic cotton, aluminium
L/190CM, W/90CM, H/50CM
2. Wall in my Hood ( FENG PFUI TRANSPORT)
I took the police tape from a crime scene in my neighbourhood. Changing the original words to “Do not cross my line” I wanted to challenge the idea that only authorities have the right to set boundaries, but rather that citizens have boundaries too; for example with privacy or personal freedom.
This is the only sculpture of my collection that I didn’t copy from an ancient one. “The Dude”, from the movie “The Big Lebowsky”, is one of my favourite characters and I think he should be admired as an archetype alongside the other classic sculptures. Even if, or especially because he is a bit of a loser and not perfect at all. The Dude after all made the bathrobe great again.
The collage of the police dress and the granny wrestling pants with the bathrobe creates a deliberately ‘imperfect’ style and an attitude that I like a lot.
I used a pressure sprayer to cover the perfect white bathrobe and wall piece with paint. Vandalising my own work is for me a very direct way of using art and not trying to be too precious. It’s very intuitive and made fast. It becomes very honest.
Materials: Recycled textile , vinyl, paper, acrylic paint, wood, PVC
WALL PIECE: H/320CM W/900CM
POSTER WALL: H/200CM W/110CM
3. Venus ( FENG PFUI TRANSPORT)
The Greek sculptures were usually all brightly painted and for the infamous Venus de Milo, her exact posture is actually unknown. Quite funny if you think that she was seen as a beauty idol even though she is a mystery.
I made my own interpretation of what she could look like & gave her a very female pink pretty dress. The draped fabric is printed with heat-print and large stickers of birds to prevent crazy birds from flying into her, because she is so beautiful!
The oversized business coat is made out of orange ratchet straps, like the ones used for securing cargo in transit. The straps also attach Venus to the pallet she’s placed on. She wears a builders helmet with beers attached, which is another play on health and safety.
Material: Ratchet straps, PVC , Div. textiles, wood
100cmx120cmx 210cm
4. Dancing Maenad / Box-dress ( FENG PFUI TRANSPORT)
I copied the fashion industry; I made a copy of a copy. The original piece is a Greek relief from 406 BC that was later copied by the Romans.
The Dancing Maenad is an immortal female follower of the Greek god of wine, festivity, Dionysus. Their name literally translates as “Raving Ones”. They were often portrayed as drunk or dancing.
I like cocktails, including Molotov’s, but my Molotov’s have red panties. I wanted to make a female rebel symbol.
I have always struggled with this idea of fitting in, doing things in certain ways. Growing up in Zurich I was expelled from school several times because I couldn’t follow ‘the right way to do things’. Being dyslexic I approached learning in a different way, which wasn’t appreciated. Being different can almost be seen as ‘a crime’ in a small country like Switzerland.
When I was 18 I started squatting houses with a female crew and the box-dress is for me a symbol of those times. I celebrate our rebellious side. Not necessarily rebelling against something, but rebelling to be yourself and live how you prefer. My Raver is frozen inside the box, but she might just dance out.
Material: Metal Wood packaging material, glass, resin
MOLOTOVE DRESS
H/190CM, W/110CM, D/80CM
5. Trash Kiss ( FENG PFUI TRANSPORT)
I always work with my surroundings and as much as I love spending time in the library for research, what really inspires me is the city, the people that live there and how they live.
When you walk through east London you quickly notice that late night left-overs like chicken bones and puke are part of the pavement display.
I always liked to make trash piles. I combined this piece with a bin bag full of empty fried chicken boxes. All garments were selected in a second hand store and I printed on them with a chipboard pattern (which is also a form of recycled trash wood).
The fashion industry is a massive overproducer and a lot of clothes end up never being worn or being thrown away. This is both a criticism of that and a romanticisation of my own love for trash.
Material: Wood, recycle garment - textile, resin, paper
L/85CM W/65CM H/110CM
6. The Thinker ( FENG PFUI TRANSPORT)
I turned the ‘strong, serious,’ masculine symbol of the famous sculpture The Thinker into a version maybe less stereotypical. Our society is spoiled and bored and at the same time overloaded with information and consumes hungrily. This is my Thinker of today wearing a flowery sniper hoody. During the performance the performer was scrolling on his phone looking bored & drinking beer.
This sculpture is a reaction to the numbness of our society. It makes a bit of fun of our society that doesn't Think so much anymore but rather spends hours on social media.
The sniper clothing is also a sideways look at the military where soldiers just takes orders and are not allowed to think too much.
Just like a sniper post I wanted the Thinker to be raised up high.
But because of health and safety I had to make it a meter lower than it originally was. It was dangerous, in case the person would fall off the toilet (as we all do daily).
As a dyslexic person, I like to play with the alternative spellings of words and integrate them into my pieces and prints. Fragile became Fargeil, which translates as ‘super horny’ in Swiss German.
Material :
Woods ,silicon ceramics, textile, human
H/208CM. W95CM. W/85CM