“Prometheus wanted to help us deficient beings and stole fire from the gods. He brought technology, science and civilization. [...] Enraged, Zeus banished him to the Caucasus and chained him to Mount Kasbek. And because that punishment was not sufficient, each day an eagle would tear out a piece of his liver,” reads one of the accompanying texts to the exhibition “Clubcannibal” by Austrian artist Thomas Feuerstein at the Kunsthaus Dornbirn. The motif of the Titan Prometheus occurs in the monumental installation as an overriding theme—both in the large-format posters that are reminiscent of old book illustrations and in the marble sculpture that stands in the middle of the installation, which represents a replica of the chained Titan from the year 1792. Thus, a laboratory situation takes shape in the exhibition space like something out of a science fiction or horror film. The walk-in sculpture made of steel pipes, hoses, pumps and bioreactors can be considered a reflection of scientific practices. Through the connection between artistic means of expression and findings from philosophy, literature or biotechnology, Feuerstein creates an artistic narrative that addresses the questions of human existence and the origins of life.
HOME