AFTER ALL

After Art
The Culture of Nature

A contribution to the Debate of Cultural Heritage

The Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met) is the largest art museum in the United States and holds one of the most important art historical collections in the world. It was founded on April 13, 1870, and opened on February 20, 1872. It considers itself a universal museum with a claim to completeness of its art collection areas and periods. What would change if we humans finally realized that nature is capable of creating equals?

The video addresses the man-made dualism of nature and culture. It calls for a critical examination of our treatment of the so-called environment and fights for the survival of our ecosystem from an artistic position.

In an irritating way, this Anthropocene archive of sculptures made of various plastics resembles the highly valued archaeological and cultural artifacts of past civilizations. These everyday finds are seen as proxies of a bygone era that has brought to light an indescribable amount of waste. At the same time, these relics of our consumerism possess their own sculptural power and beauty alongside their destructive energy. This paradox plays ironically with the values and ideas of Western art history.