“Your poverty disgusts me” – Performance artist provokes with 10,000 cuddly toys and 10 tons of rifle ammunition

The art installation “Your poverty disgusts me” by performance artist Dennis Josef Meseg is causing a stir in Wesseling with 10,000 cuddly toys, 10 tons of rifle ammunition and a tent village for the homeless.

Artist Dennis Josef Meseg (46) is internationally known for his sensational and socially critical works. In his latest installation, provocatively titled "Your Poverty Makes Me Sick," the performance artist transforms the historic Schwingeler Hof estate (Schwingeler Weg 44) in Wesseling near Cologne into a 1000 square meter interactive exhibition on the topic of poverty.

10,000 cuddly toys, 10 tons of rifle ammunition, a truck, a Tesla, a symbolic feast of decadence contrasted with a soup kitchen, video, light, and sound installations, and last but not least, a "tent city of the forgotten" where visitors can rent accommodation via Airbnb to experience homelessness firsthand. With his latest major project, Dennis Josef Meseg aims to draw attention to all facets of poverty and social inequality.

The topic of poverty has preoccupied me since my own youth, when I was homeless for a time and had to sleep in a tent in the woods. With my exhibition, I want to address social, intellectual, financial, but also emotional and empathic poverty.

, according to Meseg, recipient of the Wesseling Culture Plaque 2023.

For this purpose, he collected, among other things, 10,000 cuddly toys from donations.

Stuffed animals are a symbol for everything we should give ourselves, but often cannot. Love as a symbol, closeness as a substitute, comfort as an object. From childhood on, we learn to distract ourselves from hurt and emptiness through consumption

The exhibition includes extensive installations and performances that different facets of social disadvantage . Panel discussions and lectures offer opportunities to exchange ideas with experts, artists, and guests about the causes and consequences of social inequality .

Workshops for school classes offer children and young people a creative way to explore issues of prosperity and social justice. After-work workshops provide opportunities for collaborative artistic creation or cooking after work, fostering encounters and dialogue. This art project aims to raise awareness of social injustices, stimulate discussion, and open up new perspectives.

Art is used here as a tool to make social issues visible and to stimulate change. Experience art as an instrument for social transformation!

Exhibition dates: April 1 – April 30, Fridays and Saturdays, 3-10 pm and Sundays, 11 am-6 pm or by appointment.

The exhibition is free of charge. Visitors can bring one or more cuddly toys as a donation and thus become part of the exhibition themselves.

Dates and information at: www.dennis-josef-meseg.de

Joachim Rodriguez y Romero

Owner and Managing Director of Kunstplaza . Publicist, editor, and passionate blogger in the fields of art, design, and creativity since 2011. Graduated with a degree in web design from university (2008). Further developed creative techniques through courses in freehand drawing, expressive painting, and theatre/acting. Profound knowledge of the art market gained through years of journalistic research and numerous collaborations with key players and institutions in the arts and culture sector.

www.kunstplaza.de