“It is like it is”: Sculpture student exhibits 111 mannequins

In his installation “It is like it is”, Dennis Meseg engages with the coronavirus: Meseg has wrapped 111 mannequins with red-and-white barrier tape – and has so far exhibited them in Berlin, Bonn, Cologne, Wolfsburg, Bochum and Hamburg. Meseg reveals in the interview how differently people react to them and what he hopes to achieve with the campaign.

1.)    You are studying for a bachelor’s degree  in Fine Art – Sculpture/Installation/Digital Media at Alanus University. Is the installation “It is like it is” part of a module examination in your degree programme?

I am studying sculpture in my second semester. However, the installation has nothing to do with my studies. It is my engagement with the coronavirus.

2.)    To what extent did the coronavirus pandemic inspire you?

I had already had the idea of covering mannequins for some time. There had already been a mannequin covered with colourful stickers before the idea for this installation, “It is like it is”. The coronavirus pandemic inspired me to create various works.

3.)    How did you come up with the idea of exhibiting mannequins wrapped in red-and-white barrier tape?

I have been working with historical dolls/figures for a long time and recently shot a photo series of playgrounds cordoned off with red-and-white barrier tape. On a mountain bike tour shortly afterwards, one thing led to another. The historical dolls/figures found their way to the red-and-white barrier tape.

4.)    Why exactly 111 mannequins?

That was pure coincidence. First I wanted to wrap one figure, then around 20, then about  50 and finally 100 figures in barrier tape. When I counted them at the end, there were suddenly 111. Since then, I have been seeing the number 111 everywhere – on buses, in booked hotel rooms, as km/h on my car’s speedometer, as a house number, etc. That much on the subject: the inner world becomes the outer world.

5.)    Where have you already shown the mannequins, and where do you still want to exhibit them?

So far, the installation has been shown in Berlin (Reichstag), Bonn (Münsterplatz), Bochum (Dr.-Ruer-Platz), Hamburg (Landungsbrücken and Jungfernstieg), Cologne (Domplatte), Düsseldorf (Burgplatz) and Wolfsburg (main station/VW plant). Next, I would like to show the installation in Wuppertal, Munich, Dresden and Hanover.

6.)    What do you hope to achieve with this campaign?

The installation is a memorial and is intended to encourage everyone to show greater mindfulness and appreciation for their life, nature and fellow human beings. It is meant to make everyone more aware of how quickly life and relationships with other people can change and that we should appreciate every second more.

7.)    How do viewers perceive your art?

Viewers are almost always deeply moved by the installation. Some even have tears in their eyes. Their current situation suddenly seems much more present to them. It gives the impression that people are glossing over the current situation or even suppressing it. But when they stand in front of or inside my installation, something suddenly clicks.
What I like is that the installation is perceived in different ways. Some feel confirmed that the government’s measures are justified. Others, on the other hand, are pleased because finally someone is expressing something against the government’s measures. Older people often associate my installation with war. Younger people do not at all. One older Syrian man started to cry because he saw the installation, especially the missing limbs on the figures, as a memorial to the war in Syria.

Mr Meseg, thank you very much for the interview!

You can find further impressions of the installation on the homepage of the artist Dennis Meseg.