‘‘Life is Art
&
Art is Life’’
∼ Designing lifestyles, performative rituals, and hypothetical tools ∼
towards unveiling the symbiocene
From December 2020, I’ve been replacing the contents of my medicine cabinet with homemade plant-based meds. For this, I used herbs and weeds; that grow within
1 kilometer from my residency, and with otherwise bio-degradable and sustainably produced ingredients. By doing this, one illness at a time, I’ve been forcing myself to learn the names of all these locally growing plants and to rediscover forgotten knowledge.
I find my recipes in old books or I create my own recipes, which I share on my research blog Arty Farty Life. Each little sculpture in this installation contains one of these recipes. Together they form an continuously growing installation.
Year
2020 - 2021
Materials
Basswood, eco beeswax, ‘super sap’ bio epoxy, herbs and plants
Size
2 x 2 meters (and extending and expanding still)
PLOW
Performance video (dyptich) | 03:05 & 03:49
As presented in immersive installation at BigArt, Amsterdam 2022
A voice from the not too far future, poetically shares in whispers, how the evolution of man came about as a result of the unlivable circumstances that arose on planet earth, due to climate change.
The Great Health
Year
2023
Size
2,50 x 1,20 x 0,40 m
Food art installation. Platters created with local sand and concrete. All food was made with herbs and plants, picked no further than 1 kilometer from the gallery. Visitors can take home recipes, to replicate the dishes themselves.
Symbiose
Necklace | two people's hair, ruby and glass beads, silver thread | (30 x 60 cm).
During Victorian times, it was common, to create jewelry out of a deceased persons' hair; 'mourning jewelry', these pieces were called. At the height of this custom's popularity, merchants would even travel from village to village, to buy the hair of the less fortunate...
For the past fifteen years, I've been a caregiver for one of my close relatives. The relation I've had with this person, has always been complex; It's completely based on trust, which makes the bond very fragile, and because this is also a paid job, which partly enables my art practice. I feel like I had to make many crucial life decisions for this person throughout the years; as where to study, and where to live. And recently, due to circumstances, also how to look, as I was trusted with the task of cutting off his hair.
White Privilege
(2019) | Sculpture | 20 x 4 x 25 cm | birch wood & glass
From left to right:
Breast milk, 01-29-20, one day after returning from Kolkata, India
Milk formula, 01-29-20, produced in Switzerland
Breast milk, 03-04-20, produced on vegan diet in Rotterdam
Re-Fashion
For one year and one day, I wore this self-designed, hemp and other eco materials-based, consisting of a minimal amount of items, set of clothes. Inspired by research on former dutch historical (such as folklore ‘klederdracht’) clothing traditions.
The set was made by a local tailor and was sponsored through a crowdfunding campaign. The set was altered and restored by myself, throughout the year, forcing myself to learn about all kinds of sowing, washing and mending techniques.
7.83 HZ
(2021) | Riga Performance Art Festival, LV
In times in which social distancing had become the new social norm, by singing together with an audience via digital means, distance can nevertheless be overcome. Likewise, sound and intention are proven to be able to influence behavior of molecules beyond dimensions of time and space.
By inviting an online audience, with people from all over the world, to sing along with our performance, we aimed to create a humming for the Earth and mankind, which are facing an even graver crisis than covid-19
Homo Fragilis
(2020) | darational performance | 5 hours | during Frank Taal gallery exhibition 10+, Rotterdam & This Art Fair, Amsterdam, NL
Materials: vitamin pills, band aid, rubber gloves, syringes, ampouls, mushrooms, living plants
Modern Medicine
(March 18th, 2019) | Modern Medicine (for Poorous Measures)
Material: chicken fence wire, thyme, chamomile, cinnamon, red pepper, nettle, ginger, lemon, sage, dill, radish, orange, liquorice, pine tree, lungwort |
Photo print: 110 x 70 cm, dibond print on plexiglass
The Meek
(2019) | 60 minute performance | Venice International PerformanceArtWeek | PalazzoMora (IT)
‘‘Blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the Earth’’
(2020)
40 minute story telling / immersive installation / music / food-art ad performance | Presentation during residency presentation at Witte Rook, Breda
In collaboration with folk singer Monique van Deursen
Dionysos, the mythical protector of the wild, inspired Niezsche to coin the idea of ''Die Grosse Gesundheit'', in which a society welcomes evanescence, destruction, disgust, chaos, intense sexual drive, suffering, pain, death, fear and insecurity as desired qualities, in order the maintain the natural balance in life.
Performers Monique and Jessica van Deursen (a.k.a. Alter Moderna) invite you to come receive a performative post-covid-19 cleanse. Visitors could ‘book’ a session at Witte Rook. In between and after the performances, the space could be visited and experienced as an exhibition.
Future Whispers
(2023) | 3 hour performance at Frank Taal Gallery, Rotterdam
Storytelling and durational performance
