Vanitas – Die Schönheit des Vergänglichen

Lary Rauh presents a fashion installation specially designed with the exhibition theme Vanitas in mind. In dialogue with ArsCubis’ Metamorphosis series, she has created Made to Last – an outfit made entirely from apples, held together by wool on a repurposed and modified lit-up mannequin. 

Exhibition Text

The exhibition explores a theme that has accompanied humanity since the earliest civilizations through the works of contemporary artists: transience. The experiences of life, decay, and death are among the fundamental universal themes of human existence, accompanying us from birth to death. This theme is linked to the Bible: Adam and Eve become mortal because they tasted the forbidden fruit, and thus all their descendants are also subject to its consequences.

Vanitas means transience, and transience means transformation, constant change.

The exploration of this theme remains timeless and multifaceted, always revolving around life and death, decay, dematerialization, as well as ecological and aesthetic reflection. The exhibition showcases this in a diverse range of works, allowing visitors to approach the universal theme of transience through the beauty they discover within it.