I'd be ignorant if I'd speak as if knowing about the theories and concepts of the idea of an extended body, a body that goes further than our epidermis and we still feel it. I can't quote anyone on this, because most of the interest comes from conversations with friends and engagement with artworks, increasing my feeling that when a jumper breaks, I feel it. Or when a tire becomes flat, it hurts, especially when these objects are our own and not a Swapfiets.
These feelings are sometimes attached to materials that become precious to us due to their fragility, or to the physical characteristics that make them feel familiar. At other times, the feeling comes more from the image that these materials create, as it is not the same when a beautiful vase breaks or when an Ikea glass does, even though the material is the same. The artists in the show deal with very physical and material concepts, or that's how it feels for me: from the physicality of Machteld Rullens' drawings to the care shown in Laura Jatkowski's video showing the fixing of an inner bike tire. But it does not need to directly represent the body to talk about it, sometimes instead it is about the contact with things that literally touch it, like the helmets of Nora Aurrekoetxea or the clothes of Bronwen Jones.
The idea of ignorance is not only acknowledged but also appears as an opposite of the reading of these artworks through the theoretical lens. The aim is to look at these works from the material knowledge that anyone has an understanding of and can connect stories to from their day to day experiences. Such as when Laura shows the fragility of nails, or when Nora enhances the strength and protection of bike helmets while pointing at the importance and brittleness of what they protect. But also with more unnatural situations, like the drawings of Machteld, which are made by imagining characters based on the readings of her palm lines, or the molds of clothes from Bronwen that work as energizers to produce absent bodies through the different pieces of clothing and their materials.
I'd like to ask you if maybe we could try together to think about the materials that are present and that form these works; the things that our bodies can see and feel, rather than the explications and ideas that the artists had while making the works. Let's focus on the materiality and forget this time the material of words. Let's embrace and enjoy the diversity of language that art proposes, rather than read or hear long stories or explanations from any side of this three-sided coin that art can be.
verb rather than noun by Laura Jatkowski, 2020, video 3:54min
Extract from verb rather than noun by Laura Jatkowski, 2020, video 3:54min
strike by Laura Jatkowski, 2020
Collage, 2020, Nora Aurrekoetxea
Lazy Absurdities (Trousers), 2020, Bronwen Jones
the confrontational encounter of the monumental role that everyday objects have by Rümeysa Önal
How much meaning can we expect in our relationship with personal belongings? Maybe, meaning reveals itself only in moments of jeopardy. That which is revealed about our physical possessions can expose hints and patterns about the layers of identity we embody. These encounters can occur in the most random moments catching us off guard triggering a spiral of existential questions about the ephemerality of all epistemologies.
“From this, I came to understand that identity is not a set of fixed attributes, the unchanging essence of the inner self, but a constantly shifting process of positioning. We tend to think of identity as taking us back to our roots, the part of us which remains essentially the same across time. In fact, identity is always a never-completed process of becoming - a process of shifting identifications, rather than a singular, complete, finished state of being.”
-Stuart Hall
The pleasure attached to pondering over these questions is triggered with a visit to the group show Palpable Surfaces located at Trixie, Den Haag with works exhibited by artists Laura Jatkowski, Nora Aurrekoetxea, Bronwen Jones, and Machteld Rullens. Humans give direction to life while being aroused with the desire to belong somewhere. We can create a home not only in a house but can create a home out of objects with the consequence of feeling heartbroken when they also inevitably fall powerless to decay.
The four artists have exhibited different approaches using audiovisual media, sculpture, and illustration as meaning carrying mediums putting a hold on a moment of fragility. Laura Jatkowski’s video creates a healing experience while it captivates you in the process of fixing a broken tire of a bike, leaving the viewer with massive satisfaction of having “fixed” something. The sculptures of Nora Aurrekoetxea enhance the impenetrable power of helmets that protect our skulls, the centre of perception on whatever there is to perceive. Bronwen Jones’s sculptures also leave you wondering about the bodies that wore those items leaving traces of their unique shapes to a mass produced item. Lastly, the imaginative drawings made by Machteld Rullens who is normally known for her vibrant sculptural work has now exhibited hand-drawn illustrations that display relationships to objects beyond the physical experience and more towards the sensory imagination.
All of these works are playfully curated by Tilde, with a map that guides you through the work of the artists. This exhibition successfully triggers the conversation on how much you can tell without saying anything.
The Big Apple, 2019, Machteld Rullens
I'd be ignorant if I'd speak as if knowing about the theories and concepts of the idea of an extended body, a body that goes further than our epidermis and we still feel it. I can't quote anyone on this, because most of the interest comes from conversations with friends and engagement with artworks, increasing my feeling that when a jumper breaks, I feel it. Or when a tire becomes flat, it hurts, especially when these objects are our own and not a Swapfiets.
These feelings are sometimes attached to materials that become precious to us due to their fragility, or to the physical characteristics that make them feel familiar. At other times, the feeling comes more from the image that these materials create, as it is not the same when a beautiful vase breaks or when an Ikea glass does, even though the material is the same. The artists in the show deal with very physical and material concepts, or that's how it feels for me: from the physicality of Machteld Rullens' drawings to the care shown in Laura Jatkowski's video showing the fixing of an inner bike tire. But it does not need to directly represent the body to talk about it, sometimes instead it is about the contact with things that literally touch it, like the helmets of Nora Aurrekoetxea or the clothes of Bronwen Jones.
The idea of ignorance is not only acknowledged but also appears as an opposite of the reading of these artworks through the theoretical lens. The aim is to look at these works from the material knowledge that anyone has an understanding of and can connect stories to from their day to day experiences. Such as when Laura shows the fragility of nails, or when Nora enhances the strength and protection of bike helmets while pointing at the importance and brittleness of what they protect. But also with more unnatural situations, like the drawings of Machteld, which are made by imagining characters based on the readings of her palm lines, or the molds of clothes from Bronwen that work as energizers to produce absent bodies through the different pieces of clothing and their materials.
I'd like to ask you if maybe we could try together to think about the materials that are present and that form these works; the things that our bodies can see and feel, rather than the explications and ideas that the artists had while making the works. Let's focus on the materiality and forget this time the material of words. Let's embrace and enjoy the diversity of language that art proposes, rather than read or hear long stories or explanations from any side of this three-sided coin that art can be.
verb rather than noun by Laura Jatkowski, 2020, video 3:54min
Extract from verb rather than noun by Laura Jatkowski, 2020, video 3:54min
Collage, 2020, Nora Aurrekoetxea
the confrontational encounter of the monumental role that everyday objects have by Rümeysa Önal
How much meaning can we expect in our relationship with personal belongings? Maybe, meaning reveals itself only in moments of jeopardy. That which is revealed about our physical possessions can expose hints and patterns about the layers of identity we embody. These encounters can occur in the most random moments catching us off guard triggering a spiral of existential questions about the ephemerality of all epistemologies.
“From this, I came to understand that identity is not a set of fixed attributes, the unchanging essence of the inner self, but a constantly shifting process of positioning. We tend to think of identity as taking us back to our roots, the part of us which remains essentially the same across time. In fact, identity is always a never-completed process of becoming - a process of shifting identifications, rather than a singular, complete, finished state of being.”
-Stuart Hall
The pleasure attached to pondering over these questions is triggered with a visit to the group show Palpable Surfaces located at Trixie, Den Haag with works exhibited by artists Laura Jatkowski, Nora Aurrekoetxea, Bronwen Jones, and Machteld Rullens. Humans give direction to life while being aroused with the desire to belong somewhere. We can create a home not only in a house but can create a home out of objects with the consequence of feeling heartbroken when they also inevitably fall powerless to decay.
The four artists have exhibited different approaches using audiovisual media, sculpture, and illustration as meaning carrying mediums putting a hold on a moment of fragility. Laura Jatkowski’s video creates a healing experience while it captivates you in the process of fixing a broken tire of a bike, leaving the viewer with massive satisfaction of having “fixed” something. The sculptures of Nora Aurrekoetxea enhance the impenetrable power of helmets that protect our skulls, the centre of perception on whatever there is to perceive. Bronwen Jones’s sculptures also leave you wondering about the bodies that wore those items leaving traces of their unique shapes to a mass produced item. Lastly, the imaginative drawings made by Machteld Rullens who is normally known for her vibrant sculptural work has now exhibited hand-drawn illustrations that display relationships to objects beyond the physical experience and more towards the sensory imagination.
All of these works are playfully curated by Tilde, with a map that guides you through the work of the artists. This exhibition successfully triggers the conversation on how much you can tell without saying anything.
The Big Apple, 2019, Machteld Rullens