1940

“The monster as summit of dread is the product of fear.”

In Saupe's mixed-media sculpture one can see caducity of life, conserving dissection as well as scientific experiments which aim to prolong and overcome biological boundaries.

The artist uses unglazed china as brilliant-white, elitary element with a bone-like surface feel to shape parts of a dog's body. Those she interconnected with a mechanical conctruction from mixed media. This gives the impression as if the body shall be kept alive artificially. Even more so, since this is presented lying on an old operating table.

Completively a choice of b/w photographies opposite to the sculpture foreshadows gloomy associations and raises questions about man's striving towards breaking the natural cycle of life and death. Where is to find the moral as well as logical consequence of those experiment which the artists refers to?

Fear in Saupe's work appears as delightful horror and ironically seems to be a kind of counterassureance to the certainty of one's own death and transcience of life.

The 'artless monster' around which the work is centres obtains an innocent character whereas the absent scientist ascends to appear as the actual diabolic 'Spiritus Rector'.