Cool School

Guided tours through the exhibition Verdet bath by Caroline Mesquita

Admission for the exhibition is free, Attendance: 1€ per person
duration: ca. 45 min
group size: up to 20 people
Also available in German

At HALLE FÜR KUNST Steiermark, dreamlike mythical creatures combining human, animal and non-human, almost robotic characteristics gather in a large pool, raising new questions about the coexistence between species and relationships between nature and technology! The French artist Caroline Mesquita creates sculptures and installations — mainly from copper and brass plates — that resemble humans, animals, but also robots and other objects found in everyday life. In addition to fabricating these creatures, Mesquita also produces films in which she and her creatures play together, spinning new narratives of humans, animals and technical bodies. Noth in her installations at the exhibition and in her videos, the artist allows her characters to engage in compelling dialogues in which the audience is also invited to participate, as Mesquita sees them as an integral part of the whole scene.

We are currently offering three different focuses, which can be chosen based on interest.
No prior knowledge is required.

Animals, humans and non-human beings
Conversational tour

In the practice of Caroline Mesquita, brass and copper plates are treated and colored through processes of oxidation, then shaped into sculptural figures, often based on the human body. Her figures include replicas of human body parts, animal creatures, but also cars and airplanes. Her exhibition Verdet Bath at HALLE FÜR KUNST Steiermark, for example, features an oversized hand.

She also designs beings and creatures that are not quite human, but not quite animal either, and are also reminiscent of technical machines. In this way, Mesquita questions the supposed and often human-imposed boundaries between animal and human or nature and human as well as between human and technology. In her videos and installations, her characters often coexist peacefully, promting a discussion about how humans and non-human creatures, including machine bodies, can live together.

In this conversational tour, we would like to consider whether the questions of whether the boundaries between humans and nature as well as humans and technology are not much more fluid than is currently assumed, and what peaceful coexistence in the world could look like today. We would also like to take a closer look at the concept of ​“species,” or the superordinate genus, in order clarify what this term means and critically discuss whether we as humans are not rather one species among many, and if such classifications are not slowly but surely becoming outdated?

Water and life
Conversational tour

Despite the astonishing style and humorous arrangements of sculpted figures in Caroline Mesquita’s installations and films, her works raise urgent questions about the present: namely, the drastic consequences of human-centered violence over nature, such as the extinction of many animal and plant species, but also the ever-accelerating rate of climate change, which has taken on threatening proportions for humans too.

In her installation at HALLE FÜR KUNST Steiermark, Mesquita creates a utopian counter-reality to the threatening scenarios that are often projected onto the near future. Human and animal-like hybrid creatures find themselves coexisting in a large swimming pool in a universal coexistence.

In this conversational tour, we would like to approach the exhibition by talking about man-made climate change and consider how Mesquita’s visual language might help us to meet the challenges of the present through solution-oriented thinking, and by realizing that not only a swimming pool is a place to come together, but that water is also the source of all life.

Dream and reality
Conversational tour

Caroline Mesquita’s sculptures often resemble mythical creatures, and the way in which she arranges these various characters in relation to each other also takes on theatrical and fairytale-like effects, blurring distinctions between dreams and reality. In both her moving image practice and her sculptural installations, human and non-human actors often interact with each other in a tender way, producing a multitude of interwoven narratives.

In this conversational tour, we would like to approach the French artist’s work in a playful way, while at the same time reflecting together on dream and reality and the extent to which speculative storytelling can create utopias for the future, thus contributing to a better world.