M HKA Ensembles

Sculpture, 190 x 1950 cm.

Collection: Collection M HKA, Antwerp (Inv. no. S0008).

A week prior to the opening of M HKA in 1987, Hugo Duchateau wrote about this piece: The Growing Ladder is 19.50 m. high and runs vertically along the length of an elevator shaft at the MuHka (opening 20 June). The elevator has a single glass wall on the side of the fitted ladder. In this way, the ladder can never be seen in its entirety at any one instant. When the elevator rises, the ‘tree ladder’ sways. When it descends, the ladder gives the impression of ascending (growing). The ladder’s organic structure refers to the natural world, where the tree was indeed our first ladder. The off-shoots (the small accessory ladders) suggest that the ladder grows along with our desires. The different wood-colors, and the use of gold color as the ladder ascends symbolizes man’s urge to surpass himself. 

The tension between nature and culture runs as a common thread throughout Duchateau’s oeuvre, and is also a prominent theme in The Growing Ladder. Through the variation in form and color in this three-dimensional work, the artist presents us with a new reading of ‘ladder’ as object. The investigation into use-of-space, so much a constant in Duchateau’s earlier work, is again present here, creatively, critically, and with a dose of humor as well.