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A lot of Carsten Höller's work as an artist is based on his
knowledge as a biologist and explorer theories of evolution that
regard human sentiments such as love and hapiness primarily as
strategies for the successfull reproduction of genetic material. In the
early nineties, he invited a number of ingeniously wicked objects aimed
at the products of unfettered reproductive instincts - that is to say, at children.
These included, for example, a bicycle which explodes at the first push
of the pedal, and a sandpit full of jellyfish. In 1996, at the Cologne Kunstverein,
he devoted an entire exhibition to the theme. On the basis of scientific considerations,
he created an experiments and as the conductors of experiments at one and
the same time.
Rosemarie Trockel's oeuvre includes drawing, painting, installation and sculpture as well as photography and video, and, of course, the famous knitted pictures she showed for the first time at Bonn in 1985. The unifying strand that runs through all her work is her feminist world view. She kicks against the pricks with an occasionally refreshing display of aggression, undermining the conventional gender roles that hold sway in the male-dominated art system. For some time now, largely unnoticed, animal portrayals have been creeping into her work. At first it took the form of the moth, gnawing at the artist's signature knits. This was later followed by her bibliophile artist's book Jedes Tier ist eine Künstlerin (Every animal is a female artist) which revealed Beuys' dictum "Every man is an artist" as an expression of male hubris. In 1994, as part of the Anima exhibition, the Museum für angewandte Kunst in Vienna showed a series of animal films by Rosemarie Trockel. Aesthetically oriented towards educational nature study films, they clearly signaled a move in a new thematic direction. Ein Haus für Schweine und Menschen (A House for Pigs and People) would appear to be an ideal symbiosis of the different approaches taken by Carsten Höller and Rosemarie Trockel. On an area measuring 8 x 12 meters, a concrete building has been erected, half of which is open to documenta visitors, while the other half is cordoned off for a little herd of pigs consisting of a boar and three sows with a few piglets. The pigsty side has feeding and drinking troughs, boxes for the piglets, shower, fodder store, and a yard behind the house. For the visitors, there are mats that can be placed on a ramp in the "human" half of the building, from which they can comfortably enjoy a view of the pigs. As in a scientific study, a one-way window allows the people to observe the pigs without disturbing them. It is more than likely that the exhausted documenta visitors will be only too glad to accept Höller and Trockel's invitation and will enjoy a moment of relaxation in full view of the pigsty. Yet they will also be aware of the fact that the domesticated pig, which has lived side by side with humans for thousands of years, has also developed similar capacities of sensitivityÑprovoking some reflection on the extent to which the mores of intensive rearing is more than just a symptom of the brutal exploitation of the individual for the benefit of maximum profit, but a basic premise of our society. S.P. |