Reaction to mediocracy in art

This is a show I did in TENT, with 2 colleagues, Maite Kragl and Dieuwke Griek.
It was part of the one-day show Multimasters, which was in and a reaction on the current exposition Blurrr. The current show was about the multitasking, mixing professions and the use of different platforms. It was about the Humo Universalis 2.0
our idea was that skill has become less and less important, it al has to be and go fast and easy. You are no unique trough being the best at what you do, through skill, but by being interesting, combining media and realising your idea in a unique way. Everything is brought and flattened out; there is no real depth anymore. Another thing is that the artist has become more important than the artwork, the curator has become more important than the artist and the exhibition has become a show.
So our reaction was a show in the show, Maite and me recreated our studio in the exhibition hall and projected films of ourselves working in our studio on the walls. Maite and me painted the entire day; Dieuwke wasn’t there but was projected between the movies of Maite’s and mine.
So not only by painting showing a counteraction to the lack of skill in this generation, but also by showing us working in our studios exaggerating the position of the artist – being more important than the art work – by making the artwork the artist.

Distorted reality

The hand you see in de classic style frame looks like a photo in a digital photo frame, a digital painting. But if you look closer you see a vain pumping and the watch ticking. So you think it’s a film you’re looking at.
If you are really aware you see that the watch is ticking on it’s place, you’re not looking at a movie were time elapses, but time is actually standing still, a second that is repeating it’s self.
So first there is no time, then there is time, till you realise it’s a repetition of one moment.
The point I am making here is that not everything is what it seems to be. There could me more to it, or it might be different than you first thought it to be. So in a way you reality and your place in it are determined by your awareness of it. So don’t assume that what you see is real until you are really aware of it, looked at it from all sides and know what the other people see before you judge and form you opinion.

Enhanced reality

You’re looking at empty frames, on white walls, with empty nametags next to the frames. This presentation and the sound of people whispering and footsteps with an echo -like it’s a big empty place that people treat with respect, like a museum- that is played on the background; Gives you the feeling you’re looking at art works of great importance, that deserve respect. Now if the sounds of a marketplace are played, the way you look at the works changes, the look cheaper and out of place.
So the way of presentation is of great importance, and will determine way people look at the work. Even if it’s suggestive enough it will tell the voyeur more about the work than the work it’s self.
Taking this in consideration you can change the way you experiencing your reality, if you know what it is that makes you feel that way and what you are able to change or apply on the situation

recycling and reusing

This piece of ground is of my design.It's across from the Blaak trainstation in Rotterdam, Holland. The long lines symbolise a ploughed Wheatfield. The groves and hills are represented by grass and flowers. The grass lines are 2 meters wide and represent the groves. Between the lines of grass the hills are represented by flowers, as following: 50 cm of low flowers on each side of 50 cm of high sunflowers.
To bad it was planted to late to really show the design I had in mind, next year my design will be visible.
The peace of land next to it was also to have been designed by me, but do to complication it wasn’t possible to carry it out as well.
The concept of my design was to bring nature back to the city. To show how nature recycles and reuses itself. That when something dies, it is used to feed the new. So the plan was to use wood and stone from torn down buildings to create new thing in this peace of nature, contributing and improving the environment instead of polluting it. And this is a beautiful solution as well.