CONCEPTUS
2014
raree show shadow theatre for the vitrine at the find spot of the Venus of Willendorf
CONCEPTUS (Latin for: conception, post-classical: fetus, late Latin: thought, idea) was created for the showcase at the find spot of the Venus of Willendorf, where the 27,000-year-old statuette was displayed for the hundredth anniversary of its discovery.
CONCEPTUS consists of a raree show with two shadows: the silhouette on the left comes from a 1:1 reproduction of the Venus, the shadow on the right from the life-size model of a four-months-old fetus. The juxtaposition of the Venus – commonly considered as a goddess of fertility – with the anatomical model of the fetus addresses no less than the miracle of life. Both the female figure and the fetus model reflect the preoccupation of mankind with their origin. The questions arising from this preoccupation involve dimensions of cult and religion as well as the modern natural science. In the Paleolithic epoch it was the woman giving birth who was at the centre of this existentially human question regarding his or her origin. Thousands of years later the anatomy model represents the scientific world view of our times, meeting the same questions with a study of human reproduction.
The title brings both moments together: the Latin term CONCEPTUS originally meant
“conception”, but thereafter also denoted the fetus itself and later also “thought” or “idea”.