Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys
Micro Mundo 3, 4, 5, 8, and 10 (2023)
Die Vier von der Tankstelle (The Four from the Filling Station, 2023)
Installation / Commissioned work
Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys, The Four from the Filling Station (2023), installation view, photo: steirischer herbst / kunst-dokumentation.com, courtesy of the artists
Dates
21.9.–15.10.2023
Location
Demon Radio
Graz
Part of
Demon Radio
Production specifics
Micro Mundo 3
Collection M HKA / Collection Flemish Community, Antwerp
Micro Mundo 4
Private collection
Micro Mundo 5, 8, and 10
Courtesy of KIN
Die Vier von der Tankstelle
Commissioned and produced by steirischer herbst ʼ23
Micro Mundo 3, 4, 5, 8, and 10 (2023)
The “animating” of dead matter is a recurring theme in the works of Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys. Their microworlds present little Gardens of Eden gone wrong: mutated rodents, reptiles, and rats with human heads in terraria, getting ready to replace humanity. They live among household objects of the kind one could win on a Belgian game show from the 1970s, where contestants would guess the identity of an object as the camera slowly zoomed out from an extreme close-up.
Die Vier von der Tankstelle (The Four from the Filling Station, 2023)
In their new installation, Jos de Gruyter & Harald Thys respond to the story of Dr. Jazz and his troubled past. Four uniformed guard dog–human hybrids sit in a Mercedes-Benz. The title of the work refers to Die Drei von der Tankstelle, a German film operetta from 1930. The positive attitude of the protagonists in this movie contrasts sharply with the dark political reality slowly taking over all life. The motionless passengers in the Mercedes seem to be at the end of a long journey, but have not yet reached their final destination. They are haunted and on the run forever.
Retrospective
Retrospective