Is it still an elevator when the elevator doesn’t work. It’s like a glass of water upside down. Even though the water looks captured, you can feel it moving without seeing it. The only thing is, you first have to turn the glass.
The elevator in the building of les Brasseurs is out of order since 31st of December 1990. It is connecting the basement with the ground floor and the first level.
For almost 30 years the only movement in the air shaft was the wind that found his way on stormy days. From a crack in the roof through the basement.
To change the movement a fan was installed on the lowest level, that blew up air during the exhibition. Different from the wind, the other way around.
– On the surface are thin layers of polyacrylic acid powder, above that is hanging a drip irrigation watering system. The space contains 1200 gram of powder that can transform into a volume of 120 liter. –
– Every hour the dispenser throws silica gel into the space, the original colour of the silica gel is orange and turns to green indicating that it has absorbed moisture. When silica gel falls into water it explodes, makes a ticking sound, and changes to the colour purple –
In collaboration with Floor Martens and Boris Dieleman.
In 2018 we did an official grant to Museum van Bommel van Dam. This after a research project of a half year in response to the Documents Humains collection.
Part of this collection are all the personal belongings of artists that most of the time were granted by heir together with the main artworks. In contrast with the main artworks, the personal belongings stay under the radar. Boxes filled with letters, bills, pictures and sketches. Tools that never leave the depot, and less people see.
We categorized the personal belongings of the artists Pieter Defesche, Marianne van der Heijden and Jeff Diederen. The hundreds of letters from Marianne van de Heijden intrigued us, we could only read the letters she received and never the ones she sent.
During our research in the depot, we started writing letters in a triangle constellation to each other and sent it by post. This “broken” dialog formed our own personal effects as an reaction on the personal effects in the depot. What contains the question; What is the value of effects?
As an invitation for our official grant moment on the 17th of December 2018 we sent 150 post packages to all invitees. On this particular evening we signed a contract what contains that our grant is now part of the collection of Museum van Bommel van Dam.
“The grant” is only for your perusal if you write a letter to; Museum van Bommel van Dam, T.a.v. De Schenking, Keulse Poort 1, 5811 BX Venlo, The Netherlands
– Glasses of water are placed upside down on plastic plates, vacuum. In time the weight of the tower will slowly let the plastic plates bow, some glasses will start to leak. This can take hours or days. At a certain point, the tower will collapse, and then it will be build up again. –
The ground of Maastricht contains many shards. Many originating from Sfinxs, an old crystal and ceramics factory which is now closed for many years. These shards contain the history of the past. In Centre Ceramique, a cultural centre and depot of ceramics findings, I created a free zone for the shards of the present, in the central hall above the depot.
– In total there were 10 boxes of ceramic plunder available for the visitors to throw. In one hour, all the objects were in pieces. –
