WERNER VAN DER ZWAN
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Autoprothesis
2024 - current

material

wood
bellows
electronics In Autoprothesis sculptures and installations, I explore the boundary between object and body, between technology and state of mind. Using robotics, he enables objects and materials to move as autonomous beings. Awkward, both comic and tragic, the sculptures invite the viewer to relate to the inner lives of robotic creatures. Van der Zwan’s earlier work focused primarily on found objects such as bins, chairs and waste. For the new work he presents at Prsospects, he has shaped wood into new forms.

A finger attached to a plunger, a detached leg, lungs above which two noses hover. Autoprothesis (2025) consists of three robotic sculptures that depict body parts. Electronics set them in motion: the lungs breathe gently, the leg stretches and bends, the finger beckons. Alongside body parts, they also evoke associations with prostheses, artificial components that support the human body. In collaboration with choreographer Marta Wörner, Van der Zwan developed a script in which the three elements respond to one another, like a body that has fallen apart yet continues to react as a whole. Van der Zwan carved the forms from wood by hand. This lends the sculptures a striking softness and vulnerability, which contrasts with the mechanics that drive them. The work raises questions about the relationship between human and machine. The robotic body is usually associated with efficiency and control, but Van der Zwan instead seeks a relationship grounded in powerlessness and fragility, a form of closeness that emerges from limitation.








Shown at:

Prospects and Concepts
Art Rotterdam 
Ahoy 
Rotterdam, NL

Open Studios Borgerstraat
Rotterdam, NL

Swoosh
Kunsthal 45
Den Helder, NL



First version on show at Kunsthal 45 : s




Location:

Open Studios Borgerstraat
Borgerstraat
Rotterdam

Swoosh
Kunsthal 45
Den Helder, NL
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