• Leeszaal in Rotterdam hosted on Monday 24 March 2025 a very important public moment. Among the works exhibited was the installation connected to the project "Labels, but not for clothes". It included the latest video piece of the project and a new interactive work. Both deal with systemic bias, but from a different perspective: The video is related to the reinforcement of stereotypes through repetition and the interactive piece to exclusion as a means of control. The installation was supported by props that gave a bleak, bureaucratic air, as many of the decisions regarding what should be part of the public dialogue and which attitudes should be promoted are taken in such vacuums. The description of the work was in a take-away A4 poem format: The biblical conflict [Caption 1: Screen] A little grown-up monkey, mimicking stereotypes playing on repeat empty performances to be filled with pre-delegated meaning and a hint of self-awareness. [Caption2: Laptop] Even when evading the confines of definitions there is exclusion in store. Death by eradication. [Caption3: Important Notice] In the beginning was the spoken word the spreading voice the loving touch building alliances bringing down kingdoms. We are organic and so we evolve. Let's talk.
  • The personal and the social always go hand in hand in my work and I enjoy breaking down a narrative in different media. The project "Labels, but not for clothes" is complete, in the sense that it approaches the topic of labeling and stereotyping from different angles and it calls for participation, but is still ongoing and in progress. Here I include only the latest version of the video, just to set the tone and lure you in the project. Don't forget to share your thoughts!
    The installation "Labels but not for clothes" has had one public moment in November, in the Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam, NL, and is looking for more spaces!
  • As part of a bigger, collective project and following the subjective map of Rotterdam this project was adapted to fit the city of Groningen. Inspired as always by infrastructure, it grew to include Eemshaven and to pose questions regarding the cost of development and of our increasing needs in energy and data. Below is the video produced from footage of Eemshaven and the city of Groningen, juxtaposing liminal and gentrified (or on the verge of gentrification) spaces and the ever-expanding energy and data factories of Eemshaven.
    An ever-changing mobile population Our mixed paths Our lost orientation Making history that soaks into An angry earthA greedy machine is marching From the end of the worldA new order A dark mirror. We remainStoic like oaksEntangled In deep rooted feeling Or Anchored like house boats In half-deserted portsRocking with the waft The ebb and the tide. In a playful manner, the project also speaks about and celebrates the mundane but magical corners as met by the curious eyes of a stranger. Here are some pictures of the project in its natural environment: SIGN Project Space, commissioned and hosted the work from 26 September to 6 October 2024. The relevant object which compliments the video was created with SIGN's DIY approach in mind. It incorporates elements of temporality, temporariness, orientation as experienced from the viewpoint of the visitor, thoughts on the big issues of the city and 3D-printed GPS logs.
  • This pocket photobook is part of a larger project that explores the role of repetition in the formation and deconstruction of bias. Repetition in this context will be examined from different angles: A frequently taken route, the spreading of news, beliefs and opinions, an obsessive thought. Points of departure: Repetition and nominalism. Repetition and mechanization. Repetition as variation. Repetition as progress. The narrative value of repetition and its role in performativity. The power and the many faces of repetition in connection to the formation of opinion and bias will be explored through different media. This book is the first manifestation, the first topic addressed: Seeking and finding answers through repetition, and the attraction of the familiarity repetition brings. The first edition of this book is printed in limited numbered and signed copies. Each copy is unique and fully handmade. The pictures below show the first one of these copies: 48 pages, grayscale, 11x12 (cm), archival paper 100gr (Conqueror, oyster) on archival paper 240gr, (Dali, chamois), chain stitch: The flip book video shows a color version of the book (physical copy in the making).
    Repetition Locked in a series of movements in a frame made of gestures circling words and behavioral loops that I had to repeat (until I broke through) I learned that progress is a spiral and that there is no such thing as repetition. Although I memorize the steps I follow the sequence I copy and paste the half-empty days and their dummies for reference: A sunset, a beach, a building. The pattern is similar but there is no identical point in time and each repetition brings me closer to a still escaping answer. But even after I quench my question I keep going back to the comfort of the familiar because after all I am just a creature of habit. You can read more about the poetry issues project here.
  • Poetry Issues #29 is highly influenced by my studies in Experimental Publishing at the Piet Zwart Institute. The work spans six months, a reasonable time to allow the development of different themes, approaches and methods. Infrastructure This piece is part of a larger collaborative work, an interactive, infrastructure-related installation soon to be presented in the upcoming xpub group exhibition (27-30 June, S/ash Gallery, Rotterdam). I also like it as a stand-alone piece, so this is how I present it here. The poem is performative (improvisational reading) and list-based, simulating computerized speech: a form fitting the content.
    Ways In and Ways Out For Ways In and Ways Out I combined an exercise on loitering, observing, and list making in public space (xpub field work), with a list describing a situation left open to interpretation taking place within the private sphere. The excellent Jon H. Miller let me use his music, and the result speaks for itself.
    Desperation "Desperation" was a thought inspired by the COVID-19 times, but it applies to every prolonged instance of trauma, that eventually becomes unconscious, and it takes time, distance and healing to realize its true dimensions. As a piece, it incorporates elements from the past, such as a mysterious old recording I've been curious about for years and recently retrieved from an old mini-cassette recorder, and a footage of a place very deeply connected to childhood memories. It's more of a poetized thought than an actual poem, and although it's closer to prose I decided to follow the voice rhythm to create the written lines rather than doing it the other way round.
    Care With "Care" I feel that I go back to the roots of my love for art. Music was in the beginning of it all and now it's time to reconnect with it in a manner that feels complete. "Care" was a poem in the making that I had forgotten about for a little while and when I found it again I saw that it was more of a micro-song. It could have taken many forms, and I can definitely hear me screaming the lyrics in a different version, but this is how it crystallized (at least for now). The visuals were also brewing for a while in the background, with ideas revolving around time-lapses and chalkboards.
    Metaphors Metaphors never cease to amaze me. They are often better and conciser at getting the meaning of the most abstract notions across than a simple description of a situation. As flexible molds, they shape and embody our individual thoughts helping us make sense of our experiences in a collective manner. In this piece different metaphors come together to express a sense of womanhood compiled by different experiential states.
    You can read more about the poetry issues project here.

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