25. OCT - 10. NOV 2024
wat er al is
Works by Merlin Kater, Isolde Venrooy, elli ott and Sarah-Joy Zwarts.Curated by Milena Dahl. Project supported by Ronja Terwindt.
Join us for the Vernissage on Friday, October 25th at 6 pm !
Projectspace Mariastraat 13, 6211 EPregular opening times:
Thursday + Friday Afernoon
saturday + sunday whole dayexact times to be announced
what there is already - was schon da ist
wat er al is
'Wat er al is', is de wereld om je heen, wat jij te bieden hebt, is jouw manier om die wereld te ontmoeten.'What is already there' is the world that surrounds us daily, the world we move through. It is full of objects and scenes: the coffee cup in our hand, the flowing water in the sink, the drive to work, the shrubs by the roadside, our desk. A backdrop in which we conduct our important affairs, seemingly independent of it. Despite the visual and mental noise of this ever-evolving and demanding world, our encounters with it are often mute. These encounters have lost their magic, their flavor. Is it not that we would more likely think about the cost of our table than running our fingers over its surface, feeling the grain of the wood, its breathing, and creaking. Our interactions with these everyday scenes seem static, as if we have stiffened in our way of engaging with the world.How can we break out of this egocentric approach to encountering the world? What if we stretch and bend, crawl on our knees, play, with a searching gaze, to sense what the world wants to tell us? More than just superficially. Burrowing our hands into the earth until the dirt digs under our fingernails, deep into our being. Can our bodies become porous, so that not only we can permeate the world, but the world can permeate us?What is already there is the world around you, calling for your active and multisensory participation. "Wat er al is" is an exploration of the seemingly mundane aspects of our lives that silently weave the fabric of our existence. Four artists invite us to become soft and malleable, to kneel down both physically and metaphorically, in pursuit of entering into a dialogue with our more-than-human world. By cultivating an equitable and reciprocal relationship, a dense, sentient world unfolds. In doing so, our world will undoubtedly be richer for it.
The artists
Sarah-Joy Zwarts’ approach is to wander. In her (site-specific) practice she investigates
how one can engage in dialogue with a landscape. Over the past few years, Zwarts has
been working with a derelict space near her hometown – a stretch along the Albert
Canal. In a slow and dialogical process she researches how a recognizable structure
could develop that responds to the place in character and materiality. This beacon
takes form gradually through a process of wandering, questioning, extracting and
processing materials from the site.
Wandering and walking are similarly important for Isolde Venrooy. Through guided walks, objects and the utilization of various observation tools, she cultivates a sensitivity to uncover what often goes unnoticed. To reshape our connection with the world, Venrooy invites us to take the perspective of the elements that compose it. Through her art she seeks to alter and mold our gaze, and shift our perception. Her works provide us with a temporary opportunity to view the world anew and with heightened awareness. Adopting this new perspective leads us back to ourselves to question our own norms and origins.
How we position ourselves in the world through our bodies is a question that also elli ott grapples with. As a trained wooden boat builder, Ott's sculptures are often strongly influenced by themes of fluidity and bodies of water. The sea, for her, is a place of the present moment, which challenges us relentlessly. There is no past or future in the sea. Yesterday is forgotten, and tomorrow is even more uncertain. She confronts this with her own body. In this uncharted space, she perceives her own physicality as an excellent aid in navigating through a tangle of thoughts and material realities. However, she does this without resisting this entropy but rather turning towards it. The body serves as a stabilizing and transformative force in the here and now.
Merlin Kater incorporates the body through play. His mechanical objects and kinetic sculptures invite fascination and evoke a sense of childlike amusement. The allure arises from the emphasized materiality and the sounds induced through the kinetics and interactivity, which trigger and engage the body's senses. Additionally the use of ceramic seems incongruous, as the sculptures gradually wear themselves down. Through interaction and motorization, the sculptures come alive, juxtaposing the primal nature of the ceramic material.
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