‘Mirakelmann’ is a life-size, mechanically animated figure of Christ created in the 16th century. With the waxy pale skin and the bluish shimmering shades and veins, the sculpture is singular for its very realistic and anatomically accurate presentation of a dead body, which is assumed to be achieved by modelling a corpse at the time of production. It is equipped with a function to bleed from the side wound.
Life-size realistic dolls like Mirakelmann wonder the boundary between animate and inanimate. They are a reminder of our mortality and a vessel of souls at the same time. They make us dread and also fascinate us with their irresistible magnetism.
The project explores the question of what distinguishes us from life-size figures when our souls leave our bodies.
Life-size realistic dolls like Mirakelmann wonder the boundary between animate and inanimate. They are a reminder of our mortality and a vessel of souls at the same time. They make us dread and also fascinate us with their irresistible magnetism.
The project explores the question of what distinguishes us from life-size figures when our souls leave our bodies.
Mirakelman（ドイツ語で「奇跡の人」） は ドイツ・ザクセン州の教会に保管されている等身大のキリストの像である。 16 世紀に制作され、実際の遺体をモデルにして作られたと考えられている。
蝋のような青白い肌、青く浮き上がった静脈など解剖学的に正確な造形を持つ点で特異なこの人形は、体側の聖痕から出血する仕組みも備えている。
生命を失った瞬間に、人間の身体は「人の形をした物体」へと変わり、人形との境界が曖昧になる。生きている人間と人形を本質的に分けているもの、肉体を「生かす力」とは何なのか。