VENSKE & SPÄNLE AUTOEATER – SWALLOWED ALLEGORY OF A GENERATION
Venske & Spänle are interested in the spatial interaction between
sculpture, space and viewer.
Their body of work is dispersed over the whole globe. Often times,
their works assert their presence in urban and representative
spaces, museums and often even landscapes; like for instance in an
pacific village or on a boat in the Congo.
The largest body of work are the Smörfs with over 270 specimen.
These small, whimsical creatures form a collective and accompany
people. Through their materiality they survive their owners and stay
as cultural witnesses.
Contradictory the Gumpfots are individuals, stating growth through
their characteristically expression.
The third body of work are the Helotrophs . They need a host to be a
complete sculpture, such as a space, a person or a daily object,
standing in relation to the artists and their history.
With Glutton the artists set a monument for a Fiat Panda car from
the 80ties. Driving a Panda was part of an alternative lifestyle in the
youth of the artists, now long past.
The three door Panda with its 30 PS was a form of protest against
the motorized establishment. As the Italian counterpart to the
Volkswagen Beetle the Panda is one of the most successful cars in
automobile history.
Here Venske & Spänle work with cervaiole marble, giving the
sculptures live through its radiant translucency.
For Autoeater the sculptors carved a 16 ton marble block. With a
crane the Fiat got lifted up and bolted down onto the sculpture
with a steel frame.
The car seems to be swallowed by the Glutton and preserved for
eternity. Like wrapped in a thin skin of stone the contour of the
vehicle is visible through the marble.
Timeless stone and a past era meet.
The Autoeater was sculpted due to the generous invitation of Paolo Carli
and Manuela della Ducata of the HENRAUX FOUNDATION located in
Querceta (Carrara) Italy. HENRAUX was a meeting place for
numerous well known artists of the modern era in the 50ties and
60ties, such as Henry Moore, Hans Arp, Joan Miro and
Isamo Noguchi.
making of Autoeater
