The Social Life of ‘Untilled (Liegender Frauenakt)’
2016
Video animation.
Looped digital video HD in vertical monitor.
2’04”.
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This video animation compiles 684 Instagram images tagged #pierrehuyghe to reconstruct documentation of Untilled (Liegender Frauenakt) by Pierre Huyghe—an artwork I have never seen in person. The images span its first presentation at dOCUMENTA 13 (2012) and its later appearances at major institutions including the Centre Pompidou, Museum Ludwig, Hayward Gallery, LACMA, and MoMA.
Using these crowdsourced photographs, a stop-motion video traces nearly three years of the sculpture’s “social life,” revealing its changing contexts, viewpoints, and audiences. The work also reflects shifts in Instagram’s visual culture—such as the early prevalence of filters that gradually disappear.
By appropriating viewers’ images, this new piece echoes the “hive mind” concept suggested by Huyghe’s sculpture—a classical figure topped with a beehive—highlighting collective intelligence and shared authorship between artist, audience, and digital platforms.
Using these crowdsourced photographs, a stop-motion video traces nearly three years of the sculpture’s “social life,” revealing its changing contexts, viewpoints, and audiences. The work also reflects shifts in Instagram’s visual culture—such as the early prevalence of filters that gradually disappear.
By appropriating viewers’ images, this new piece echoes the “hive mind” concept suggested by Huyghe’s sculpture—a classical figure topped with a beehive—highlighting collective intelligence and shared authorship between artist, audience, and digital platforms.
Credits:
General installation views of the exhibition The White Cube is Never Empty, MACS - Grand-Hornu (Hornu, 2025).
Images: Isabelle Arthuis.
Video (web version).
General installation views of the exhibition The White Cube is Never Empty, MACS - Grand-Hornu (Hornu, 2025).
Images: Isabelle Arthuis.
Video (web version).