Sculptural installation "King Kong", Völklingen Ironworks World Cultural Heritage Site

King Kong is back! And you have the possibility to meet him being part of the "5.UrbanArt Biennale® 2019 Unlimited" at the world cultural heritage site of the Völklingen Ironworks. This installation displays the most recent developments and trends in international urban art - with artwork of renown artists. Ottmar Hörl is one of them.

At the gates of the so-called "Paradise", the picturesque, recultivated industrial cultural garden of the Völklingen Ironworks, Ottmar Hörl has recently installed the sculpture of a gorilla measuring ten metres in height. As an exhibit, it is part of the "5th UrbanArt Biennale® 2019 Unlimited".

Every visitor knows the story of the most famous gorilla in film history that dies for love. Killed by humans who feel threatened – and prefer to shoot first before they think.

This experience of threat is inscribed in the defensive aggression of Hörl's sculpture. The figure is prepared to defend itself if its threatening gestures are not taken seriously.

Whether this instinctive behaviour is sufficient to avoid a conflict depends on King Kong's opponent. The intruder is required to interpret the gorilla's gesture in the right way in order to begin an orderly retreat. Otherwise, the same thing will happen as in the movies: there will be a fight because people misinterpret or ignore the warning signs.

What Ottmar Hörl has installed here is the prototype of a tortured and misunderstood creature, a symbol of our dealings with nature. Oversized and not to be overlooked. Nature will defend itself if we ignore its signs and fail to recognise them.

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Sculptural installation "King Kong", Völklingen Ironworks World Cultural Heritage Site

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