Elmgreen & Dragset, ‘Life Rings, Fig. 3’, 2023
Presented by Pace Gallery
Presented by Pace Gallery
Elmgreen & Dragset, Life Rings, Fig. 3, 2023
Presented by Pace Gallery
Life Rings, Fig. 3 presents a stack of oversized lifebuoys that rises more than four metres high, each ring improbably balanced atop the next. While at first glance the sculpture recalls a playful game of stacking, its material subverts expectation. Rather than the familiar lightweight foam or plastic, the rings are cast in heavy steel, rendering an ordinarily functional object as strange, elevated and useless.
In their collaborative practice, Elmgreen & Dragset frequently rework everyday items to challenge perceptions and reveal the symbolic weight of the mundane. The work invites reflection on both material and meaning. The transformation from rescue device to gleaming sculpture raises questions about value, care and inaccessibility. As a cast metal form, the lifebuoy no longer floats, nor can it save lives. However, as its purpose is neutralized, its symbolism is magnified. This ambiguity is characteristic of Elmgreen & Dragset’s oeuvre, which often occupies a space between the functional and the fictive, the humorous and the profound.
Here, the life ring, a utilitarian object associated with emergency and survival, is reimagined as a monument. A monument traditionally signifies permanence, power and collective memory; by constructing Life Rings from life-saving devices rendered unusable, Elmgreen & Dragset create a deliberately ‘powerless structure’, part of their ongoing exploration of failed ideals and fragile social systems.
About Elmgreen & Dragset
Elmgreen & Dragset (Michael Elmgreen, b.1961, Copenhagen, Denmark; Ingar Dragset, b.1969, Trondheim, Norway; live and work in Berlin) have worked together as an artist duo since 1995. They pursue questions of identity and belonging and investigate social, cultural and political structures in their artistic practice. They are interested in the discourse that can ensue when objects are radically re-contextualized and traditional modes for the representation of art are altered.
They have presented numerous solo exhibitions at prominent institutions worldwide, including Kunsthalle Zürich (2001); Tate Modern, London (2004); Serpentine Gallery, London (2006); Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Castilla y León (2009); ZKM – Museum of Contemporary Art, Karlsruhe (2010); Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam (2011); Victoria & Albert Museum, London (2013–2014); Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul (2015); UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2016); Tel Aviv Museum of Art (2016); Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (2018–2019); Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas (2019–2020); Fondazione Prada, Milan (2022); and Centre Pompidou-Metz (2023–2024). In 2009, they represented both the Nordic and the Danish Pavilions at the 53rd Venice Biennale. They are renowned for large-scale public installations including Short Cut (2003), an installation comprising a Fiat Uno and a camper trailer, which appear to emerge from the ground; Prada Marfa (2005), a full-scale replica of a Prada boutique installed along US Route 90 in Valentine, Texas; and Van Gogh’s Ear (2016), a gigantic vertical swimming pool placed in front of Rockefeller Center in New York City.
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Main Image: Elmgreen & Dragset, Life Rings, Fig. 3, 2023. Courtesy: Frieze. Photo: Linda Nylind
