More story and images after the jump…
Elmgreen and Dragset, Celebrity- The One and the Many (interior), via Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
The One and the Many transforms the 5000-square-meter, former Submarine Wharf into a peripheral neighborhood with a somewhat dark and sinister ambiance. The artists have created the exhibition using a specially designed block of flats as well as an abandoned funfair ride with the incorporation of other innovative elements. What is created is the edge of society; the experience is of a tough underworld, replete with with shady characters and dangerous activities.
Elmgreen and Dragset, The One and the Many (2010), via Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
But why re-construct such a degraded reality when many already witness such spectacles in everyday life? In a recent interview with Vogue Italy, the duo said that they often re-create familiar objects and environments in their installations. By re-contextualizing them, they provide such environments with new meanings. They re-constructed a general public space at the Submarine Wharf whereby the concept of “public” no longer had significance. The area was had been invaded by commercial interests. “The public is clearly free to think what it wants. Our aim is to write a few lines that point to a larger story. The entire installation is like an abandoned film set, ready for the ghost of Rainer Werner Fassbinder to make his next feature film. Many dark undercurrents remain to be revealed to society today,” they told Vogue.Â
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Elmgreen and Dragset, via Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Elmgreen and Dragset have installed a large panoramic wheel at the center of the exhibit through which the visitor can see a real building. When looking through the windows of the exhibit, observers witness a micro society of children glued to their televisions and other electronic gadgets; parents addicted to their TV and the elderly dismissed to solitude. The artists state that the exhibit reveals the feelings of solitude, melancholy, and nostalgia.
Elmgreen and Dragset, The One and the Many (2010), via Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Exhibition Opening of Elmgreen and Dragset, via Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Related Links:
Exhibition Page [Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen]
Elmgreen and Dragset at Rotterdam [Vogue Italy]Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
Elmgreen and Dragset: The One and The Many at Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam [Vernissage.tv]
