AMCN exhibition 2025

Laurits Malthe Gulløv, ‘hardeners and softeners’
Reinforced lick stones in salt
2025

Goats have lived among humans for thousands of years, and they are said to be omnivorous. Now, they are also sculptors. Laurits Malthe Gulløv has placed mineral licks in the goats’ enclosure, in shapes that echo some of the most controversial buildings of modern times: control towers, apartment buildings, factories. Without gravel from gravel pits for roads, foundations and concrete, the world today would look vastly different. Depending on when you encounter the salt sculptures, they may, or may not, have changed shape: the goats, who regulate their own salt intake, lick them and soften their contours.

In the Middle Ages, there was a method of torture where goats would lick the soles of a fixated prisoner’s feet until the skin wore away. In the Old Testament, we hear of Lot’s wife who looks back on the burning, wicked city of Sodom, and, at the sight, turns into a pillar of salt. Maybe the goats of Tarup-Davinde will lick one of these ancient stories back into existence. Maybe they are licking the wounds of a hollowed-out landscape. Or, they could be licking new myths into being?