One sees a life-size hand. The fingertips are flattened, the thumb stretched. The surface is corroded and rust-colored, seams stand out. One seam extends vertically from the little finger to the base of the hand. It emerges like a vein on the palm. Another is on the thumb, which is supported by a cantilever. A fine needle pierces the lower part of the hand. Heimo Zobernig designed the sculpture following his 2015 exhibition at Kunsthaus Bregenz, where a life-size male figure stood alone in the room. Zobernig does not work on the castings; they are neither polished nor cleaned, and the casting channels remain visible. These look like wounds, scars, and nicks; the object itself is reminiscent of a medieval reliquary. And yet the sculpture is less a testimony to humanity than a questioning of the production of an artistic work. Zobernig questions the conditions of the possibility of art.

Thomas D. Trummer, 2021 (translation: Virginia Dellenbaugh)