Landscape explorations' as research for project Nerve: location Culemborg, videographer Veerle Boekestijn, performer Bryan Atmopawiro.
Landscape explorations' as research for project Nerve: location het Vondelpark, videographer Veerle Boekestijn, performer Kim Hoogterp.
Research Nerve - Landscape 1. 02-2021 / 09-2021
An observation of the countless forms in which people interact with the landscape and its influence on people. A research that is both subtle and all-compassing.
The landscape of the home, the neighbourhood, the city, the country, and the world.
What influence does scale have on our perception?
In what way do walls, borders, and roads shape our experience?
Whereby are the movements of people, things and natural elements influenced?
How do we distinguish the ‘natural system’ of ‘our own human-made structures’?
Experiencing the landscape in the present moment, and visualising the history and the future.
Artist in Residencies: OT301 Amsterdam, LekArt Culemborg, DOOResidency Zaandam,
and the area of Den Helder.
After the COVID-19 pandemic stroke in 2020, I received a Mondriaan Fonds Young Talent stipend and developed project Nerve.
This art project will become a poetic reaction to the Anthropocene - the geographical era we live in today in which humans have a dominant influence. Nerve researches the connection between the nervous system of man, society, and nature to re-imagine our future.
You can read more about the origin of the project in my blog City Circles.
The project will exist out of three performative landscape sculptures (Nerve – Landscape 1/2/3), plus one communicative installation (Body in Landscape).
Underneath you can read short stories about the Residencies I lived and worked at while doing research for
Landscape 1.
'Landscape explorations' as research for project Nerve: location Den Helder, videographer Veerle Boekestijn, performer Bryan Atmopawiro.
Landscape explorations - Den Helder, 01.02/ 30.08.2021
In the area of Den Helder, dunes and sand collide with asphalt, sea, forest, grass fields, dikes, and city architecture - all within a short distance from each other.
Here I started a continuous practice of landscape explorations.
Collecting fragments of the landscape as a database,
and investigate my surroundings through different techniques, such as:
moving in the landscape at different paces, like running, standing still,
walking, driving; uncovering social conventions, memories and stories that the land carries; focusing on the somatic (inner bodily experiences) in relation to the texture/ form of the architecture of the area; sensorial immerging through ‘forest bathing’; exploring distances through the voice; detecting traces; mimicking, getting inspired by, being in the landscape; by mentally projecting images onto our surroundings, like augmented reality.
This intuitive data is documented through writing, drawing, video, and photo.
Artist in residence OT301 – Amsterdam, 01.02/ 30.04.2021
At 4Bid gallery in OT301, I explored how information (text and images) can be spread through space, and perceived in a non-chronologic, intuitive, and active manner. These spatial texts will be part of all the Nerve installations and activate people’s consciousness about their surroundings. To deepen my knowledge on the Anthropocene landscape, I engaged in a continuous practice of literature reading. During this residency, I investigated sources about the anthropocene, materialism, new materialism, resource politics, political and community art, globalization, urban design, landscape architecture, deep time, Socratic design and more.
Literature research for Nerve spread through the 4Bid gallery Ot301, Amsterdam, photographer Iris Woutera.
My findings translated into a concrete experience design.
At the 4-Bid gallery, I used wooden materials in different processing stages, like blank paper, printed paper, cartons, branches out of the park and building materials.
During rehearsals with these material-landscape-tests and two performers, we could see beautiful perspectives and storylines unfolding, discover the different values materials are subdued to and explore kinetic power.
From this point, I developed the sculpture Nerve - Landscape 1. The wood for this sculpture is donated by the community (residents of the Netherlands), saved from the streets and also newly bought from Ikea. I registered this collecting process in the form of a map.
There was no possibility for a presentation at OT301 due to COVID-19 measurements. However, I had the opportunity to make video and photographs to document the performance work, which you can see here.
Processing the collected wood/ Map: collecting process of wood for Nerve - Landscape 1.
Photography for Nerve - Landscape 1., photographer Iris Woutera.
Artist in residence LekArt - Culemborg, 01/30.05.2021
In May 2021 I was artist in resident at LekArt. I lived in a cottage amidst the grass landscape called Werk aan het Spoel.The area has an elaborate history, which is visually detectable. In 2007 it has been reshaped by landscape architect Ronald Rietveld and visual artist Erick de Lyon. Culemborg itself is a floodplain landscape.
In this decorum, I continued the explorations, literature and rehearsal practices.
Werk aan het Spoel/ LekArt residency, photo by Rob 't Hart (source website ArchDaily).
Werk aan het Spoel/ LekArt residency, photo by Rob 't Hart (source website ArchDaily).
DOOResidency – HEMbrugterrein, Zaandam, 01.06/19.09.2021
In a storage building of a former arms industry terrain, I could work throughout the summer months of 2021. In the immense space of the empty building, I could form relations between the Nerve installations, through material try-outs.
Furthermore, I had the chance to create an overview of my landscape fragments database and test its communicative strength with a first audience. This gave a great impulse for the further development of the installations. I will elaborate on this in my next blog Research Nerve – Landscape 2.
'Landscape-fragments-archive' at DOOResidency as research for project Nerve, photographer Iris Woutera.
'Landscape-fragments-archive' at DOOResidency as research for project Nerve, photographer Iris Woutera.
Presentations
A research presentation at 18/19.09.2021, DOOResidency, HEMbrugterrein, Zaandam. The first performative presentation of the completed work Nerve – Landscape 1. will be at 19-22.05.2022 as part of the exposition Prospects by Mondriaan Fonds, during Art Rotterdam in de Van Nelle Fabriek.
More information about presentations you can find at my calendar.
Collaborations during the research
Performers Bryan Atmopawiro, Kim Hoogterp
Videographer Veerle Boekestijn
Photographer Alina Fejzo
Special thanks to Bart Smit, Clarinde Wesselink, Emma Kroos, Karin Eweg, Lotte Hostraat,
Marijke Ruigrok, Marja Vink, Michelle de Vaan, Paul Breijs, Paulina Winiarska, Terry Breijs,
and the persons that donated wood materials for the sculpture.
Editor of this blog Kim Hoogterp
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