texts on artworks
Slide

How wide it is, how deep it is, how much is mine to keep

The image shows a grid, a time plane and infinity.
A moment in time, a life, is elevated and highlighted.
The gradient of the visible colour spectrum connects the objects.

It reflects on the nature of time and the fleetingness of the present moment.
The present fades into the past and stretches toward the future.
The concept of the present is elusive.

Generally, we see time as a linear movement from the past to the future.
Once a moment has passed, it is considered gone forever.

However, we have to deal with the processing of time.
Memories of events often resurface at irregular intervals.
Meaning that each moment is, in a sense, present in every other moment.
This creates a continuous present.

It cannot be grasped, yet it contains everything.

Note on the Title:

The title of this artwork is inspired by a passage from Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. In this work, Vonnegut reflects on the nature of time and the transience of the moment: "And I wondered about the present: how wide it was, how deep it was, how much of it was mine to keep."

Although the artwork was created before these lines were discovered by the artist, they strongly resonate with the themes explored in the piece. Both the artwork and Vonnegut’s words delve into the idea of time.

Slide

Entrance hall

One enters a hall.
The space is entered without any indication of what lies ahead.

In its neutrality, it covers a wide range of conceivable places.
With a certain distance from the visitor, yet with a way to guide.

Sparsely decorated with an artificial plant, a counter, an empty vitrine.
The overall atmosphere is clinical and institutional.

The space is being renovated or prepared for a specific purpose.
The transition between spaces is less clear now that the doors have been removed.

There is an object on the floor, ready to be installed,
to hang from the ceiling as a large entity. Something to look up to.

Now it lies on the floor like a great ship anchored in the water.
The whole floor mirrors like a water surface.

Looking into the reflection of a glass door, a package lies on a table,
facing the outside world one just came from.

The golden yellow column seems to carry the image,
giving support to this composition, which allows minimal movement.

Slide

RECONSTRUCTION I

We look at a stately town mansion from the early nineteenth century.
The interior reflects the influence of science and the spirit of discovery on the daily life of the bourgeoisie. The objects refer to a life outside the house. From books on colonial empires to a collection of Turkish kilims. A citizen of the world. A glimpse of the modern mindset.

This is a period when the industrial and material world was presented as an ideal at the first World’s Fairs. They ushered in the industrial revolution and demonstrated advanced technology to the world community. It was not just a presentation of possibilities; it was a vision of the future.

As Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky realised during his stay in London in 1862, where the Great Exhibition took place, what he saw there was of world-historical importance. ‘You become aware of an enormous idea,’ he wrote after visiting the exhibition, which displayed an exuberant material culture.
But he also saw it as a warning: ‘You feel that it takes great, eternal denial and luck not to surrender, not to capitulate to what you see, not to bow to what is, not to accept the material world as your ideal.’

Only the remnants of the mansion remain. It has been carefully rebuilt, as if an archaeological find. There are literally gaps to be filled, information missing. To make it understandable, it must be placed in a context that has been intentionally reconstructed.

The reconstruction is enclosed within a building. The style and features from the industrial revolution, such as the cast-iron frame with glass, are no longer new and exciting, but rather tried-and-tested construction methods. The space seems designed specifically for the reconstruction. To be exhibited, to be studied.

However, this building too is flawed and in decay. A glimpse of a newer era is visible through the glass ceiling, indicating that this era, too, is part of the past and needs to be re-examined. This suggests that missing links can be uncovered and a new understanding of this era can be achieved.
A cyclical repetition, like matryoshka dolls fitting together. (It’s worth noting that matryoshka nesting dolls were first exhibited at the 1900 World’s Fair in Paris.)

History is constantly revisited from the shifting ‘now’ with an eye toward the future. A vision within which art translates our world as a shifting, living story.

Slide

Reconstruction IV

The scene is presented as a diorama setup displaying either an existing or potential reality.

An investigation seems to be conducted. Reminiscent of procedures at a crime scene: places are marked and material collected.

Or it could be an exhibition setup and a representation of something that is already predetermined is on display. The arrangement is clear, with floor plans available and materials placed in their designated spots.

The scene can be repeatedly reconstructed and deconstructed based on blueprints and scripts.

How do we perceive the world and the events within it?
Is each event unique, examined and archived as a closed case?
Do we view the past as a sequence of events that repeat themselves and are essentially the same?
Or is it fixed, like a script waiting to be played out?

Slide

A view to remember

A familiar view.
Viewed from a place just as familiar.
I see it because I am here.

Why capture it when you already know it so well?
You want to remember it.
For when it is no longer there.

We look out from a place of transition.
From here to there.
Inevitable.

Slide

Lift and Drift

The artist's studio. Everything reflects emptiness, waiting to be filled with content. Decisions that will determine how the work manifests lie ahead.

It is an austere space, with a view of the outside world, equipped with the materials necessary to create something.
The objects seem to want to express the inner movement an artist may experience at the beginning of the creative process, like a rousing whole.

The grid on the wall, which bears resemblance to a work of art, functions as a ventilation shaft. A supply of clean air. Inspiration flows from external sources.

It's a beginning.
The megaphone roars, tools whirl around, power cables snake up from the ground, ready to connect. Inner turmoil stirs up.

Through the window, a figure is seen throwing canvases with painted lifebuoys into the water. A painted buoy won't keep you afloat. But the insight that art can offer may help you weather the storm. In this sense, the artist’s work is a powerful commitment.

It is a solitary endeavour, yet at the same time, art is for everyone.

Note on the Title:

The title, 'Lift and Drift', is inspired by the legacy of the Wright brothers and their pioneering work in aviation, and represents two opposing forces that make flight possible: Lift, the upward force that keeps the aircraft in the air, contrasts with drift (drag), the resistance that slows progress and influences the direction of flight

Slide

By invitation only

Public space, once the foundation of our society, seems to be under pressure. Polarisation, the process of group formation through opposition, has divided this space. Where once was room for open exchange, there is now a battleground of competing voices.

And so, a question emerges from this tension:
Can freedom exist without autonomy?
Can autonomy endure without the preservation of the individual voice?

A group offers a sense of protection, but it also erects barriers.
What is recognition for some, may be a wall of exclusion for another.

Belonging to a group is not always a choice.
Sometimes it is an invisible chain that binds you to a collective identity, but at other times, it is the very visible markers that dictate where you are placed.

There are many ways to navigate this divide.

You may be included as an individual in the collective identity of a group.
You are seen as a group.
Your individuality is replaced by a collective face.

Or you can make your voice heard through the power of the group.
Being heard as a group.
Your words dissolve into the echo of the masses.

Not committing to any group.
You are neither seen nor heard.

But there is another path:
Conscious distance.

You can place yourself outside the group dynamic without losing connection.
In this space, you are present. Because from a position of overview, you are able to maintain your own voice while also hearing that of others.

You observe not just as a bystander, but as a participant in the greater whole,
realising that your freedom arises from maintaining distance without being absent.

So I step out and observe,
but I look in,
while staying engaged.

I make room to create space.

Slide

Rooms 1-4

The atelier presents the world.
The world is an atelier.

There exists a duality between the desire for harmony and balance in the creative space,
and the inevitable disruptions caused by external factors.

For disruption and turmoil are also fundamental parts of the artistic process.

There is a subtle balance between inspiration and information,
between external stimuli and the control we have over them.

The chair turned towards the light flooding the room.
The sudden dynamism of the windblown paper.
The quiet intensity following the chaos.

These elements shape meaning and composition.

They are formed in the same room,
with the same perspective,
but through different states of mind.

The room as a portrait.

Slide

Bonsai

We see residual forms and shells of objects that are no longer there.

They are lively structures. They have grown in and around the object.

They have been limited in their growth and forced into a form.

Forced to change form.

The result is a transformation or metamorphosis.

This transformation can be understood as a shift in the fundamental nature of being.

The remaining form represents the underlying essence which remains despite the changes.

Slide

I wold not be in a folis paradyce

- The phrase 'fool's paradise' refers to a situation where someone is happy or content based on false beliefs or unrealistic expectations.
In essence, the phrase serves to illustrate the notion that a lack of knowledge can result in a misplaced sense of security or contentment. –

As the title suggests, this is an age-old story.

Some manipulate others for their own benefit. Even indirectly, they may do so as part of a system or structure. Others may believe in this manipulation and see it as a reflection of their inner life, often presented as entertainment that provides a general sense of satisfaction or fulfilment. These roles often overlap, with individuals playing both at different levels.

The question arises whether we should uncritically accept the information presented to us.

From my perspective, true reality lies beyond the immediate context.
It is not on stage, but behind the scenes. Not in the photograph, but in the studio.

I am not interested in the magic trick, but in the search for the hidden compartment. The false bottom. The untapped space of information.

The practice of seduction is ultimately devoid of content, while the search for knowledge is imbued in wonder.

Note on the Title:

Origine: "I wold not be in a folis paradyce."
An early phrase, first recorded in the Paston Letters, 1462
Shakespeare later used it in Romeo and Juliet.

Slide

Passengers

From my vantage point,
I am able to see the darkness of the night with clarity.

On a bridge, a passenger train stands uncoupled and abandoned.
It is no longer connected to the source of its power.
By which it was pulled or pushed.

It is unable to move forward on its own.
Has no guidance or direction.
Cannot determine its destination.

I also stand still, time to observe.
We look at each other, perhaps thinking the same thoughts.
As if we are a reflection of the other.
Or maybe even of ourselves.

Slide

Vanishing point

The vanishing point is not only the point where parallel lines converge, but also the boundary where the visible fades, where everything dissolves and movement ceases. It is the point where everything that was once visible recedes into the invisible.

In this image, however, no line seems to submit to a direction. Even the shuttle, on its way to the moon, deviates from its course. It was not designed for such a journey.

The television, once a window to the world, shows a shuttle shedding its rocket stage as it continues its journey in search of something beyond our world. The moon, once a symbol of our yearning for the unattainable, hangs in the background. Yet its pull remains.

At a point, the shuttle disappears from the screen. Just like technology, no matter how revolutionary it was. Everything is fleeting. What once seemed vibrant and tangible slowly fades and disappears from sight, much like the contents of ageing videotapes that eventually become unreadable.

These symbols remind us of a bygone era. They represent the collective memories of technologies that are now often forgotten, of a world we no longer know. What once held cultural significance is now interwoven with nostalgia and ideas of progress that have shaped our identity.

It is a reminder of humanity’s endless desire to reach for the unknown, even as our achievements fade and the traces we leave behind disintegrate.

The vanishing point is always beyond our reach. It constantly lies just outside the limits of our understanding. It is a journey that will never be fully completed.

Thus, the vanishing point is never an endpoint but a continual reminder of transience and everything we try to hold onto, while also being a striving for a course-defining dot on the horizon.