I'm sorry - I don't know what to say about this artwork. I've picked at it for the week, since going to the Art Gallery of South Australia and running into it last weekend. It's...Well, It's odd, confronting, brutal, comical, powerful, disgusting and somewhat difficult to look away from...I found it to be in person anyway. How can something so disturbing to me also be so captivating? I don't know, but it was.
I used the image above as the main - I wanted to give you a chance to leave this blog before you go any further as some may find these images distasteful. I do, and yet at the gallery last Saturday I stood and studied it trying to pick out all its nuances and messages which, of course, I was unable to do. So you've been warned. This art is not for everyone.
It has been created by Jake and Dinos Chapman, two brothers from Britain, in 2011. They call this piece Das swings unt roundabouts fur der kinder? Ja? Nein! Schweinhund! (Swings and roundabouts for the children? Yes? No! Pigface!)
It was purchased by the Art Galery of South Australia in 2016 for just under one million dollars and sits displayed within its glass case somewhat misleadingly amongst other more traditional artworks.
At first glance I thought it was a simple depiction of an apocalyptic world but on closer inspection the horror sank in, it began to unravel as some kind of parody of a Nazi Concentration Camp in which tiny figures play out an apocalyptic scene. Nazi's, some mutated with multiple appendages, or mutilated, skeletal figures and bizarrely even McDonalds characters playing on a littered playground in some kind of Juxtaposition between the corruption and evil that were the Nazi's and their death camps, and the Corporate evil of corporations...It's all here and more.
Violence seems to be the main theme. I was left with a death factory feel here, as if the concentration camp was a processing plant where clothed Nazi's were brought, stripped and forced into the labour of processing yet more Nazi's until their ultimate death. Where experiments were carried out upon them, and their death was brought about in brutal production-line methods. Not dissimilar to the death camps of World War Two.
I'm sorry but I'm having difficulty in describing the piece. It really has to be seen to be believed. I spent almost an hour studying the work and at the end was no closer to understanding it.
Possibly it's best to show a few images for now and leave you to find your own way through this gruesome work, this despicable, disturbing creation that probably says more about human nature than any words I can create.
Herded into the camp - Skeleton Nazi's driving uniformed ones to the death machine, reminiscent of the Death camps of World War Two and the way "undesirables" were similarly treated.
Ushered into the factory, the Nazi's battered and bleeding from their treatment from the Nazi-skeletons.
Factory workers keeping the production line moving.
The bloody results. It's amazing how the artists actually capture facial expressions - Anger, sadness, madness, happiness...Right throughout the piece it is prevalent which I believe is one of the most fascinating and confrinting aspects of it.
The other side of the factory where the "product" makes its way out into the yard.
It's grotesque, amazingly detailed and sends powerful messages - Just what they are depends on the observer. Whilst I was there a father came over with his young son who seemed excited at the little figures. Once the father realised what he was looking at he pulled his son away quickly in disgust...It's like that though; You will either look, or hurry away, and hope you're not haunted by the visions. I believe it's the incredible detail the artists put into the piece that makes it so...It's...relentless. A non-stop assault on the senses, the heart and soul of a person, or so I found it...And yet I stayed. Observed some more.
As I sit putting this post together I wonder what you may think of this piece, the artwork, and if you could do a better job than I at making sense of it. Does it repulse you, do you judge the artist...Do you judge me for blogging it? I'll not know unless you reply so feel free to do so.
Below is perhaps one of the most perplexing parts of this depressing apocalypse. It may be difficult to make out but there's a bunch of McDonald's characters playing in a heavily littered playground. Multiple Ronald McDonald's - I hate clowns in the first place but here, in this piece...Damn! Freaks me out a bit. There's so much imagery in the piece that it's difficult to make it all out. What is clear though is that the artists have invested a massive amount of time in this work and obviously had a very strong idea of what they wanted to portray.
I said above that this piece is relentless - It truly is. It reaches right inside and twists. Just when you think it's going to let up you step around and see something from a different angle and that hand grabs your heart and crushes it again. It's unforgiving.
This artwork is one of the most intriguing and disturbing pieces I have ever seen - Considering I've spent time in some of the most famous art galleries around the world I think that's saying something. As a war history [history in general] lover I have seen human brutality played out before me many times but this...It's something else. I think it's the detail, the human expressions the figures show, that makes it feel a little more impactful. It's direct, brutally honest and unapologetic. It's only 2.15m high x 1.27m square in size, not massive but not small. The artists ensure that there's plenty to occupy the observer though, if they care to look.
Again, I am sorry for not really having the words to explain what I see and feel here very well. If you want to see this piece in real life you'll have to come to Adelaide. If you're from out of town I'll even pay your entry to the gallery for you - OK, it's free to get in, but look me up, I'll hang out with you, buy you a coffee afterwards, so we can discuss this interesting and brutal artwork. For now though, you'll have to make do with a few of my images and find yourself either disgusted or intrigued.
Design and create your ideal life, don't live it by default
Very interesting piece, I wonder if it is a very over dramatised interpretation from the German POW camps.
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Nazi death camps you mean? Yes, I make reference to that several times in the post - I believe there's a strong parallel being drawn.
Yes those nasty camps.
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I agree that it's disturbing and unforgiving, but it is fascinating, and I can see why you spent so much time looking at it. I certainly don't judge you for blogging about it, or the artists for creating it. They clearly had something important to say. I don't know that I'm the one to figure it out, but I think it's really interesting. I wish I could go look at it in person.
It's a conundrum and was very difficult to write about. It is repugnant and yet difficult to take one's eyes away. Get down here, we'll grab some chow and go have a look at it. My treat! :)
That is an incredible work. Looking at the images you posted I get the feel of the horror and then seeing the details of the images I took at auschwitz reflected, it connects at a different point again.
A master art piece should have the viewer question what is seen and search themselves for answers, and this accomplishes that with a rawness rarely seen.
There is art to hang on a wall, and art that is anchored to a soul.
I wouldn't want this piece in my home, but it definitely belongs in a gallery. While not for kids, the question for those who turn away might be, why can't you look?
It has been on my mind all week. I want to go back and look again. To be honest an observer almost needs a lightly magnified set of binoculars to reach inside the piece. To observe from behind the glass is insufficient. It's raw, yes, a good way to describe it. Such amazing detail. Just this piece alone is worth the trip to the gallery.
I don't do it justice with my limited understanding I think.
how bizarre
Certainly is. If you get an hour go and check it out...It's worth a look in person. You're probably too busy to do so but if you're in the vicinity it's interesting enough to drop in.
ta
My Disgust at You is Overwhelming..... LoL
But only in the fact that it left me with more questions than answers....
And My disgust is only at the fact that You are more Awsome than Me..... LoL
I would like to see a follow up post with these answers..... The Artists (Brothers) Give us the story on them, and behind this art piece. Please do not make Me do my own research....
KrazzyTrukker "Gots No Time Fo Dat..!!"
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I plan to do a follow up, that's why I didn't elaborate on the artists in this post.
My disgust is that you're disgusted that you're not as awesome because what you don't understand is that you ARE as awesome. More awesomer even. That's not even a bloody word...Disgusting.
I'll tag you in the follow up. Good to hear from you.
Really cool description and I see why it is difficult to put feelings into words. I have difficulty too.
My interpretation (that i am willing to share):
I see modern Germans bearing the loss of wwii still today 90 years later and slowly working themselves to death being destroyed by their own people, while everyone else caries on with their regimes, politics, and livelihood.
I also see the dehumanization of an entire culture that will only be seen as the epitome of all that is evil in humanity.
That is the beauty of a piece like this we each interpret it how we interpret life and I applaud you for getting my thinking on a Thursday. Have a good one!
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Hey bro, nice words and I agree. So many ways to see this thing. It's like going down a rabbit hole. A bloody disturbing one! In real life this things is incredible. The work that went into it is simply mind-boggling. Thanks for commenting. Always appreciated.
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Your post and photographs of what you saw took me back to the time I went to the United State Holocaust Museum in Waschington D.C. My friend and I spent 3 hours walking around and only made a dent in the museum. I felt the same way you felt here. It is hard to put into words what you feel from the scenes you see. As intrigued as we were, we had to leave because we were physically drained from what we saw. I can't imagine living during a time like this.
Thank you for your post.
I believe that is what it's like for many when it comes to exhibitions/museum's that present or investigate such things.
Human's are capable of such terrible things and can visit horrendous pain and suffering upon each other...It's mind boggling sometimes and overwhelming to see if collected into a museum, especially for those who aren't inclined to treat people in that way.
Thanks for your comment and stopping by in the first place. I appreciate it.
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You're welcome, you have excellent posts. I am glad to have found them.
Thank you for saying so. I don’t always post on art preferring to post about anything and everything - Life is varied and my posts reflect that. 😀
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Wow. 😮 This is really something. I kind of can't stop staring at them though. So detailed and the world is so fleshed out. No pun intended.
The detail of the piece is something that struck me. It must have taken the artists a long time. They made it from scratch and everything has a true-to-life look about it. It’s certainly an interesting piece. Thanks for dropping in and taking a look at my post.
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They've made you feel something, mission accomplished XD
Wow that is pretty brutal. Would definitely have to look at it in real life as while your photos are awesome detail shots I'm one of those people that needs to see the whole thing too. Currently I'm more curious about the things that were going on in the artists' heads when they came up with it and while they were putting it together as you can probably thread stories together (at least some of which will be at least part of what they were trying to tell in the first place XD) from looking. But that's probably not one you can answer XD Don't suppose it came with an explanatory plaque?
There was a small plaque, more just saying what it was called, who made it, the year. Nothing really about their motivations or inspirations. I'm going to follow up with a piece about the artists at some stage.
Yes, photos of any kind could never do it justice. The thing is that from every angle one sees different things. Even in person you can never see it in its entirety. Observe from one side then move 30cm left and it's something altogether different.
Magnificently grotesque and disturbing.
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