spirituality - lesson 21: joep van lieshout

the spirituality gap the question of the reality of the soul and its distinction from the body is among the most important problems of philosophy. it can be traced back to plato, aristotle and hindu philosophy. a dualist is one who believes that the facts which he considerswhether they be the facts of the world in general or a particular class of them cannot be explained except by supposing ultimately the existence of two different and irreducible principles. for example, dualists in anthropology explain facts about man by two fundamental causes: reason and the passions, soul and body, or freedom and determinism; in the theory of knowledge, dualists explain knowledge by the meeting of two different realities: subject and object; in religious cosmology, they picture the world as dominated by the perpetual conflict of a good and an evil power...

bar rectum or also bar anus - a bar with the shape of a human digestive system courtesy atelier van lieshout

bar rectum

courtesy atelier van lieshout

bar rectum courtesy atelier van lieshout

bar rectum courtesy atelier van lieshout what is our relationship to the body? many artists have used bodies as canvases and subject matter. 'humans are not just the ultimate users whose needs determine a design; the human body is itself a design'. dutch artist and designer joep van lieshouts early works express his desire for a total fusion between the biological and the architectural by enveloping the body in a second skin. the artist creates small living spaces, intensively focusing on the body along with its needs, functions, capacities and resources. by intimately fusing the body with its surroundings, AVL dethrones the human being as the ultimate user for every design. freestanding anatomical sculptures of enlarged body parts - both the bodys interior and its exterior - can

be occupied and used by people. body parts are enormous sculptures that reproduce internal organs of the human body; the change in scale is stupefying, educating the viewer about the wonders of the human body. the hand of the artist seems to withdraw; the reproduction is instantaneous and faithful, offering pleasure in the beauty that is revealed. '...these organs are large and stylised versions of what we find in our body..' says joep van lieshout ' this project not only reflects the complexity of body but also tries to unveil the beauty and the essence of life..' 'body bar' (2006) is one of a series of small buildings that van lieshout has shaped as body parts, including the infamous bar rectum (2005). the building is apparently not meant to be macabre, and is only an amputee because of budgetary restraints. 'there was only money for the torso,' says van lieshout. 'I also like the shape of the torso because its very classical, but its also the most spacious part.'

'body bar' courtesy atelier van lieshout

uritory - unisex amenity courtesy atelier van lieshout

ecological toilets made for biogas production by using vacuum power courtesy atelier van lieshout

coffe cups for illy, 2005 courtesy atelier van lieshout visibility AVL avoids the display of modesty, restraint and prudery - evident are bodily activities from defecating to having sex, all these processes which usually remain hidden. magnification is one of the methods to obtain 'visibility', which also tends to blur the very distinction between life and death. the process of decay and decomposition are unveiled in their 'full splendor'. yet the focus remains on an active or potential process, not to shock the viewer. AVL's 'visibility' has both a didactic and a democratic dimension. the viewer can see how something works and how it has been made.