THE BLOB Nothing can stop it!, 2008
A sculptural Remake

Beate Engl
Beate Engl
A worldwide invasion of blob sculptures is the fictitious setting for my research project. On the basis of this exaggerated horror scenario I am analyzing critically the spaces marked for art and the expansion of a globalized art industry. Starting point of the research is the horror movie "The Blob" from 1958, in which a gelatinous, anthropophagous mass from outer space is expanding and growing permanently. The movie plot is ironically translated to the expansion of the art industry: The blob is escaping from the museum into public spaces and remote areas. Similar to a virus, which is transported through art tourists from Biennal to Biennal, the mass is spreading all over the globe. The "Blob" is signifying a prototypical sculpture or an abstract accumulation of material. While conquering spaces it can take on different forms, sizes, styles and shapes through its fictitious life. The global expansion of this sculpture gets beyond control, turning into a bizarre situation. This is the basis for my critical reflection of the existing criteria for artistic production, which consist partly out of theoretical research and several sculptural works.
The series contains educational material about the global art industry, for example a globe, on which the international biennals of the last two years are marked. "Oh, my god, it's a Blob!" shows a sample of the blob, which demonstrate the life of the bubbling and sputtering mass. In „Blob-Machine“ a red foam mass comes out of a white museum pedestal and spreads into the room while solidifying to a sculpture. The video „Attack of the Blob“ reproduces the panic scene in the 1958 movie and translates is to the front of a museum: visitors are trying to escape screaming and filled with fear out of the building. In "Return of the Blob" the red mass enters a gallery space through a ventilation system and splashes down on the floor.
The publication "Nothing can stop it!" tries to contextualize and complete the sculptural works with theoretical texts by Claudia Reiche, Thomas Reitmair and Dietmar Rübel, a contribution by Oliver Pietsch, and short stories, which develop the blob scenario further, by Nancy Hightower, Karen Moulding and Barbara te Kock.


„Oh, my god, it‘s a Blob“, 2008
exhibition view kunstraum muenchen
Wood, bass speaker, latex, corn starch, water, food coloring, frequency generator
Beate Engl