102792 | GERMANY. "Homo Superior" cast bronze Medal.

102792  |  GERMANY. "Homo Superior" cast bronze Medal. Issued 2002 (109mm, 460 g, 12h). By N. Müller in Halle.

 

Two infants (one human, to right, and one avian devil-like, to left) facing one another and supported by umbilical double helix; all within industrial chamber // Similar infant, though clearly human and with a more imposing posture, supported by umbilical double helix with two mechanical connections; all within similar industrial chamber in which it barely fits. Edge: Plain.

 

The Medal 41, pp. 97 & 100. As Made. Dusty charcoal surfaces, with some lighter hints around the devices. Very rare, and one of just 10 produced.

 

Ex David Nicholas Silich Collection (acquired directly from the artist, November 2002).

 

There is essentially no information to go on regarding the design and intended meaning of this large and rather provocative medal. What is known is the artist (Niels Müller), his place of study (Burg Giebichenstein Hochschule für Kunst und Design in Halle, Germany), the overall output (just 10 pieces), and that this design won (for the BAMS Student Medal Project 2002) the Niagara Falls Casting prize for the best medal from abroad. Given its rather haunting nature, one must clearly wonder if the artist is alluding to a type of human that, on account of evil influences, becomes "superior," given the work's title. However, in this sense, superior in a more imposing and rather clearly pejorative context. There also may be some technological overtones as well, given the machine-like, industrial nature of the "womb."

 

Upload: 1 October 2024.