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In his sculptures and installations, Werner van der Zwan (1995) explores 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 Prospects, 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.
Written by Sarah van Binsbergen