The Golem, a large giant of wood with a height of approximately 4 meters, is a symbol of the helper and the savior for those children, who are in need of help, hope and courage. Vanmechelen refers of course to the legend of the Homunculus that was made out of clay in the 16th century in Prague by rabbi Jehudau Löw to protect the Jews in the ghetto.
But Vanmechelen’s golem is not only a helper and a savior; it’s also a bridge between different cultures, just like his Cosmopolitan Chicken. It serves a higher purpose and insists on tolerance and engagement.
Clearly it has also a temporary state like everything in life, and again, it carries the idea of the transient life inherent with the Cosmopolitan Chicken.
The Golem as well as the Cosmopolitan Chicken are related to Donna Hathaway’s cyborg who she connects to “transgressed boundaries, potent fusions, and dangerous possibilities” in A Cyborg Manifesto (1991).
But there is also the archetypical meaning of the word ‘golem’: embryo or shapeless substance. So the Golem can be formed, it’s in a state of growing.