Modern Moses

Above a wall-mounted ATM, the words “24 Hour Banking” light up. Beneath this lies a sleeping baby in a carrycot. Someone obviously has forgotten their child while withdrawing money. Who was it, and how could such a thing happen? Such questions confronted us in Elmgreen & Dragset’s installation Modern Moses. Through the ironic, theatrical setting, the artist duo combines an ordinary scene with a brief dramatic moment that is both irrational and subtle.
The title Modern Moses refers to the biblical figure of Moses, who was abandoned on the Nile after his birth and found by the Pharaoh’s daughter. In Elmgreen & Dragset’s piece, the baby symbolizes the neglect of human intimacy in favor of material desires. Elmgreen & Dragset use hyper-realistic figures and astonishing staging to raise uncomfortable questions about, for example, cohabitation, responsibility, and social justice.