🔗 Share this article

Should you be thinking about bathroom renovations, it might be wise not to choose engaging this German artist for such tasks.

Indeed, Herfeldt is an expert using sealant applicators, producing fascinating artworks with a surprising medium. However longer you observe the artworks, the stronger it becomes apparent a certain aspect feels slightly off.

The thick lengths made of silicone she crafts reach past their supports where they rest, drooping off the edges towards the floor. The knotty foam pipes bulge until they split. Some creations leave their transparent enclosures entirely, becoming a collector of debris and fibers. One could imagine the ratings are unlikely to earn positive.

At times I get the feeling that items possess life in a room,” states the German artist. “That’s why I started using this foam material because it has this very bodily sensation and look.”

Indeed there’s something rather body horror about Herfeldt’s work, including the phallic bulge that protrudes, similar to a rupture, off its base at the exhibition's heart, and the winding tubes from the material that rupture like medical emergencies. Along a surface, the artist presents photocopies depicting the sculptures viewed from different angles: appearing as squirming organisms observed under magnification, or formations on culture plates.

I am fascinated by that there are things inside human forms occurring that also have a life of their own,” Herfeldt explains. “Things that are invisible or command.”

Talking of unmanageable factors, the poster promoting the event includes a photograph of water damage overhead at her creative space in Kreuzberg, Berlin. It was erected decades ago as she explains, faced immediate dislike among the community since many old buildings were torn down in order to make way for it. By the time in a state of disrepair when Herfeldt – originally from Munich although she spent her youth near Hamburg prior to moving to the capital as a teenager – took up residence.

The rundown building caused issues to Herfeldt – she couldn’t hang her pieces without concern potential harm – but it was also fascinating. Lacking architectural drawings accessible, no one knew how to repair the malfunctions that developed. After a part of the roof within her workspace got thoroughly soaked it collapsed entirely, the sole fix meant swapping the panel with a new one – perpetuating the issue.

At another site, the artist explains the water intrusion was severe that several drainage containers were installed above the false roof in order to redirect the moisture elsewhere.

It dawned on me that this place resembled an organism, a totally dysfunctional body,” Herfeldt states.

These conditions brought to mind a classic film, John Carpenter’s debut cinematic piece about an AI-powered spacecraft which becomes autonomous. And as you might notice from the show’s title – three distinct names – other cinematic works influenced impacting Herfeldt’s show. Those labels refer to the female protagonists in Friday 13th, the iconic thriller and the extraterrestrial saga in that order. The artist references a critical analysis written by Carol J Clover, outlining these surviving characters an original movie concept – protagonists by themselves to overcome.

They often display toughness, rather quiet and they endure due to intelligence,” she elaborates of the archetypal final girl. No drug use occurs nor sexual activity. It is irrelevant the viewer’s gender, we can all identify with the survivor.”

She draws a similarity between these characters and her sculptures – things that are just about maintaining position amidst stress they’re under. Does this mean the art really concerning societal collapse rather than simply dripping roofs? Similar to various systems, these materials intended to secure and shield us from damage are actually slowly eroding around us.

“Absolutely,” responds the artist.

Earlier in her career with sealant applicators, the artist worked with different unconventional substances. Past displays included forms resembling tongues using the kind of nylon fabric found in on a sleeping bag or inside a jacket. Once more, there's the sense these strange items seem lifelike – a few are compressed resembling moving larvae, some droop heavily from walls or spill across doorways attracting dirt from footprints (Herfeldt encourages viewers to touch and soil the works). Similar to the foam artworks, those fabric pieces also occupy – and escaping from – cheap looking display enclosures. The pieces are deliberately unappealing, which is intentional.

“The sculptures exhibit a specific look which makes one compelled by, while also being quite repulsive,” the artist comments grinning. “The art aims for invisible, however, it is extremely obvious.”

The artist does not create pieces that offer comfortable or beauty. Rather, her intention is to evoke discomfort, strange, perhaps entertained. However, should you notice a moist sensation from above as well, don’t say this was foreshadowed.