The work considers semen collection as an act of symbolic significance and represents its pivotal moment – the separation of male reproductive material from the animal’s body – as a scene of technobiomythological tragedy, in which libido is instrumentalised for the extraction of monetisable genetic information.
By depicting a key process of artificial insemination, a technology that enables the complete separation of bulls and cows, the work thematises the crisis of masculinity, desire, and connection under advanced capitalism.
By depicting a key process of artificial insemination, a technology that enables the complete separation of bulls and cows, the work thematises the crisis of masculinity, desire, and connection under advanced capitalism.
The piece is based on a photograph taken at an artificial insemination station in Hungary, which was transformed into a 3D mesh and subsequently carved into a patinated aluminium plate using a CNC milling machine. The resulting aesthetic references cave paintings and scenes from Greek red-figure pottery. As a technology of industrial reproduction, CNC milling mirrors the very subject of the work, while the relief format links the image to traditions of both mythological representation and political propaganda.
The production of the work was kindly supported by Mazak Hungary and Enterprise Group Technologies.