Precarious Spelunking: Existential Reckoning and Material Mess in Thomas Hirschhorn's Cavemanman

This thesis examines Thomas Hirschhorn’s Cavemanman (2002/2006/2022) as a critical exploration of materiality, existential inquiry, and non-hierarchical space within contemporary art. Constructed from excessive, everyday materials, Cavemanman adopts the form of a cave system to confront entrenched philosophical, artistic, and social structures, intentionally positioning itself within the museum, a site historically contested across art history and philosophy, in a humorous way. Through close visual analysis, artist writings, interviews, and theoretical frameworks, this project situates Cavemanman as a paradoxical work—operating simultaneously as refuge and confinement, monument and anti-monument, exhibition and resistance. Hirschhorn’s deployment of low-value materials challenges social hierarchies, institutional neutrality, and canonical notions of artistic permanence, all while foregrounding labor, contradiction, and excess as tools of engagement. Ultimately, Cavemanman emerges as a visual nexus within Hirschhorn’s practice, embodying his commitment to equality, philosophical reckoning, and the transformative potential of art grounded in the precarious and material conditions of contemporary life.