In this series of blogs I want to take the reader along the process to the end result, the series 'Is This The Poem I Promised You?'. A series of 10 conceptual artworks in which 'being at home' is the central theme. In this first part my inspiration for this series.
The Poetics of Space
In my previous work people were always literally the central theme. Who are you really when you can't hide behind clothes or image? In “Unfolding Ambiquity” I went in search of the true identity in order to reach the core of the individual. That’s where my fascination for human behavior and my passion for art merged into a creative vision.
In my new series 'Is This The Poem I Promised You?' I go one step further. When, and above all, where are you completely yourself and does such a place actually exist?
In his work The Poetics of Space, French philosopher Gaston Bachelard has explored personal, emotional experiences and reactions to architecture. A house, according to Gaston Bachelard, is a body of images that gives the inhabitant the illusion of stability. Is your 'home' then the place where you are completely yourself? Where you can do what you want and where only your own rules apply?
In his research, Bachelard places special emphasis on the living space and the different rooms and the different types of furniture and elements within them. All rooms form a unit but are individually complex because they are made by our memories and experiences. Its different elements evoke different sensations. An opened cupboard is a revealed world, drawers are places of secrets, and with every act and through every item we open endless dimensions of our existence.
With the concept behind 'Is This The Poem I Promised You?' I use Bachelard's theory and the human imagination as a phenomenon on its own. By making poetic images of different rooms, empty and filled, I challenge the viewer. What do you see? Can you see the character, the personality of the resident(s) in the interior? What happened? How do you, with your experiences, influence the room you see and what does that room do to you?
By always taking the same space as a starting point, but always choosing a different setting and light, I investigate how people influence the environment and vice versa. No physically present people, but the influence of people on the environment is what I want to make visible. Man influences his environment, but is it also the other way around? I leave it to the viewer to come up with his or her own story and to form a picture of the residents who live there and what happened in the rooms.
The interiors
In advance I come up with my own stories about the residents who live there and I design an interior that fits that story. When the set is built in my studio I start with roughly adjusting the lights to create the right atmosphere and after that I spend a week and sometimes even longer, working every day to get every strip of light exactly how I want. I work intuitively in this and that is the core of my creative process. Coloring the decor with light is the next step in the process.
More about that in the next blog. If you want to stay informed, sign up for the newsletter here.