Automaton

Two hyper-masculine ready-made statues of anthropomorphic Egyptian animal deities quietly rotate in space, reminiscent of exhibits at a luxury car show or a high-end merchandise showcase. Originally intended for home décor, they are repainted in high gloss black, accentuating the exaggerated musculature of their humanoid bodies. In ancient Egypt, a continuous chain of transformation from human to animal to a divine being was a common concept, allowing a single deity to inhabit multiple forms and multiple bodies. This stands in stark contrast from our modern religious perspectives, where roles and narratives are much more rigidly defined.

Here, the two gods – Anubis and Khnum – face each other as if locked in a confrontation, their shadow-like figures poised in a tense standoff. The othering that occurs between human and animal also extends between human and other humans: Who is deemed fully human, and who is reduced to the status of a 'beast'?  Those who are categorised as ‘beast’ are treated like robotic automatons with no will or political agency of their own, relegated into the realms of eroticism or death. 

Commissioned by BOZAR, Brussels. 2024