Survival of the Fattest
Survival of the Fattest ( German survival of the thickest ) is a sculpture and shows a starved little boy carrying a fat woman.
It was created in 2002 by Jens Galschiøt and Lars Calmar and is intended to show the unbalanced and unfair distribution of global resources .
Sculpture and symbols
The 3.5 meter high bronze sculpture shows a huge fat woman from the western world who is sitting on the shoulders of a starving African boy: the woman is holding a scale , the symbol of justice, but her eyes are closed. This is to show that justice has degenerated into self-righteousness . It also represents the unwillingness to see the obvious injustice. The term "Survival of the Fattest" is an ironic allusion to the Darwinian expression Survival of the Fittest ( survival of the most adapted individuals ).
The sculpture should be a message to the rich part of the world. Their focus is on the obesity of people in the western world due to their excessive consumption , while people in the " third world " die of starvation. Due to the unbalanced distribution of resources in the world, most people in the western world live more or less comfortably and oppress the poor through unjust world trade . The “poorer” countries are kept away from the markets of the West by the rich countries through tariff barriers and subsidies .
Exhibition at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen
In 2009 Jens Galschiøt showed a series of sculptures under the title SevenMeters at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen , in which the sculpture Survival of the Fattest was probably the most poignant sculpture. The sculpture was placed in the harbor of Copenhagen next to the internationally famous sculpture Little Mermaid in the water. The Little Mermaid is a National Monument and is seen by an estimated 1 million tourists each year. By placing the sculpture in this way, Jens Galschiøt was certain that the explosive message would receive international attention. Furthermore, the placement of the sculpture Survival of the Fattest next to the sculpture Little Mermaid from the fairy tale of the same name should indicate that the intentions and goals of the wealthy countries at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen are nothing more than fairy tales.
Individual evidence
- ↑ The official "Curriculum Vitae" by Jens Galschiot on aidoh.dk (PDF; 13.7 MB)
- ↑ Sarah Levy: 100 Years of the Copenhagen Little Mermaid: Headless on the quay. In: one day. SPIEGEL ONLINE GmbH, August 23, 2013, accessed on August 25, 2013 .
- ↑ Article: COP15: Survival Of The Fattest from art-for-a-change.com