bart hess manipulates pink latex to resemble wrinkled human skin in grotto installation

in grotto, bart hess drapes a series of hanging columns in latex manipulated to resemble wrinkled skin. presented during dutch design week as part of the robot love exhibition, the grotesque installation takes the form of a living cave in which visitors are invited to contemplate their existence and the contemporary world, and, in the context of the exhibition, question the materialization of robots and the image of the smooth, cold machines we have of them.

photo by elske nissen, all images courtesy of bart hess

grotto is the result of a three-year long process, which started with hess‘s participation in the vous avez dit bizarre? exhibition during the 2015 design biennale in saint ettienne. somewhere between fascination and disgust, the dutch designer has composed a theatrical cave made of veiny latex skin stalactites and stalagmites, reflecting on the meeting point between the material world and the spiritual.

the transformative installation is created by stretching pink latex sheets onto six-meter-long wooden frames to double its size, followed by a thick layer of liquid latex on which hess has shaped the vein-like line patterns using his fingers. once fully dry, the latex sheets are released from the wooden frames causing them to bounce back to their original dimensions, and resulting in distorted surfaces on which the hand-carved lines maintain their original size. 

photo by elske nissen

 image © designboom