(from the series SERVANTS), 2025
body bags, plastic, fabric
169 x 81 x 71 cm
Transcription from the audio guide written by Alina Kleytman:
Mr. Ruffle!
First among the black nails. The tallest. The driest. The oldest.
He is the master of all the Diva’s castles.
Physical castles, logical castles, diplomatic castles.
Dressed—strictly.
One ruffle. Red.
Hand-washed.
By hand.
Every lunar Friday of the century,
in silence.
He watches over the other servants.
He does not interfere—he waits.
And if anyone creaks out of line—
from his red ruffle, like a tribunal’s flag,
silence spreads.
Humiliating.
Luxurious.
Description/commentary
With names as peculiar as their forms, the six SERVANTS—MR RUFFLE, FAT EMMY, CLARA SHARPNOSE, MARCO, ONE OF, and STEVE—are ghostly appendages of a theatrical regime. Composed of body bags and plastic, each sculpture resembles an oversized fingernail balanced delicately on wheels, fitted with tiny hands—ready to serve, polish, or intervene.
These spectral creatures glide across imagined palace floors with silent devotion, echoing a hushed “yes, madam” in every rotation. They are the invisible labor behind perfection, the animated extensions of power that quietly restore order, gloss, and control. Part absurdist fantasy, part biting allegory, SERVANTS offers a vision of elite domesticity where control masquerades as cleanliness and subservience becomes a tool of command. These are not props. They are instruments of a regime where even the nails know their cue—and roll out accordingly.
And should you ever hear a faint tapping on the tiles…
do not be alarmed.
They are simply back on duty.