installation of objects and works on paper and canvas
2019 at Hoorn & Reniers gallery in The Hague.
The installation ‘hut’ tells a story about a relationship with my former self. Elements from the present, the past and even the past generations form the layers that surround us. Sometimes very visible, sometimes they slumber beneath the surface, some stay deep inside. The work shows a carefully arranged compilation of objects from my atelier, childhood memories and bits of inheritance. The crocodile was one of those inherited objects, a vulgar piece of curiosity. Kept in its bubble wrap foil as a contemporary grave the dead reptile is now subtly blending in the gallery space. The table with the surrounding objects came from my atelier exactly the way it was standing there with the compilation of drawings on the top. These raw and fine works on paper, sculptures and objects are almost randomly interacting with each other like vague memories in a dream. Under the table I quite spontaneously created a sort of sheltered space. A burrow to retreat after wild adventures, a safe zone from apocalyptic events, a safe zone from losing control? In any case a hut. I could spend hours in this place, decorated with elements of childhood memories, accommodated with cozy lamps and even a portable television. The antenna is out but sadly there is no clear signal to receive, only snow and a hissing sound instead. The Swedish call it ‘myrornas krig’, the war of the ants. Supposedly less than 1% of this “war” is ‘cosmic microwave background radiation’ leftover from the big bang, some 13,7 billion years ago. In a broader context we are all wondrous leftovers from the big bang, sheltered from deadly cosmic radiation in our hut made of our present, our past and our past generations.
June 24, 2019
