Medium
A sculpture about greed, cunning and inferiority complexes.
“My house is your house”. A statement of hospitality and generosity. About energy, kindness and altruism. Just not here.
The merry chef’s invitation to the little worm shrouds the fact that he is actually about to eat the apple that the worm lives in. In other words, a rather alternative meaning behind the phrase “your house is my house,” might be more apt here.
As usual, there is plenty of humour in Max Højer Jacobsen`s sculpture. Only here, it is extra dark and wanton Because there is more to the sculpture than meets the eye. More than just dark humour.
Firstly, there is the matter of the apple. The snake that tempts Eve to eat a nice juicy apple in the Garden of Eden represents mankind`s first sin. This is where we lose our innocence, the Old Testament tells us.
In a more secular sense, this is a con and deception – lies and a cunning ruse. The chef only pretends to be hospitable and generous. His motive is selfish and greedy. While he acts chivalrous, he really only wants to stuff his face. He thinks and acts with his belly.
And the worm falls for it. Naively, you might think. Who would trust a man with a chef`s hat when you live in a juicy apple? And why is the worm wearing a hat itself? A Napoleonic one at that? Well, on the face of it, this is another edible thing: a lovely piece of marzipan-filled, chocolate-coated pastry. But the hat was named after the French emperor, who once conquered most of Europe, only to lose it again. A man who was reportedly so small that he had a hang-up about it: a Napoleon complex. So the worm is hardly the innocent and defenceless creature you might initially take it for. Firstly, it is a little serpentine, and thus in itself suspect. Secondly, it is also quite vain. It compensates for its small size with an impressive emperor’s hat. It has its flaws, we can see that.
However, this might all be a matter of fools making feasts and wise men eating them. Or David cheating Goliath. A theme of fairy tales and fables since the time of the ancient Greeks. What the falsely convivial chef obtains is a half-eaten apple. Maybe even an infected apple, which will make his guests fall ill, report the restaurant to the police and lead him to ruin. Then the worm will have the last laugh. With the even tastier – and still untouched – Napoleon’s hat still on its head.
The latter could easily be true in Max Højer Jacobsen`s sculptures. They have a home-spun philosophy to them, in the most positive of senses.
A humorous insight into people`s greater or minor mistakes. An ability to laugh at our ambitions, our delusions of grandeur, vanity and greed. Without being cruel. That is the very definition of good comedy. And it is precisely what characterises Max Højer Jacobsen as an artist.
Tom Jørgensen, art critic at Jyllands Posten, editor of Kunstavisen (The Art Paper)
Artist Comment
Mi Casa Et Tu Casa (Bronze figurative Stulpture)
by Max Hojerauthorjacobsen
£10,000
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