Rachel Youn's unruly kinetic sculptures challenge museum decorum in Venice

Rachel Youn discusses her solo exhibition 'Unruly Vessel' at Scuola Piccola Zattere in Venice, where she repurposes electric massagers and obsolete gym equipment attached to artificial plants to create absurd, repetitive machines. The works explore themes of pleasure and pain, care and self-destruction. For the Venice show, Youn delved into the darker history of the lagoon, including the asylums of San Servolo and the 'pubblica fusta', a prison ship of the Serenissima used to confine criminals, the mentally ill, and plague victims. The installation 'Congregation' features large rowing benches inspired by the ship. Youn's kinetic sculptures intentionally disrupt the quiet, controlled environment of galleries: they are loud, occupy excessive space, and can physically touch viewers. She resists barriers and sacred attitudes toward art, embracing the unpredictability of her works, which she describes as always escaping control. The exhibition references Feliza Bursztyn's motor-driven works and the unsettling tensions of 'The Exorcist'.