THE PAGES OF MY RESEARCH (2020)

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As a result of the project 'dec(l)ay', this work has been developed during my 2-year Masters at the ArtScience Interfaculty of the Royal Academy of Art / Royal Conservatory of The Hague (2018 - 2020). With this project, I graduated with honours. 

 

One year ago, I was confronted with a material I had never seen and smelled before. The gorgeous brownish translucency of the material, the undefinable smell, the asymmetrical texture and patterns, the incredible strength yet flexibility it had, provoked strong ambivalent sensibilities. Since this cross-modal encounter, the mighty material of cellulose grown by microorganisms has been the focus of the research for my Master degree of the ArtScience Interfaculty of the Royal Academy of Arts/ Royal Conservatory of the Hague (2020). 

 

The sentence ‘What does it mean to give agency to the material, to follow the material and to act with the material?’ (Petra Lange-Berndt) has been the main inspiration for the construction of the (material) research methodology that followed. I created an experimental domestic (sound) set-up (see photos) in which I followed the growth of 16 sheets of cellulose in five consecutive iterations over a period of six months (December 2019 - May 2020) in a literal (=time) and figurative (=meaning) manner. Simultaneously to this growing process, I write, think, act, feel in the same spatial context. The result after the 5 repetitions, a total amount of 80 sheets, are 'The Pages of my Research', both a written and physical work.

 

The entire work presented during the Graduation show 2020 consisted of a:

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(1) textile installation of 3 meters high with the 80 translucent 'pages', the material scanned timeline of the entire period. 

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(2) written work, as an annex of the material timeline. You can see the photos of the final book on this page or read it via the PDF 

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(3) the (live) recordings of the fermentation that were audible for the public and;

 

(4) two different webcams that streamed back and forth the videos of (a) experimental sound set-up at my 24m2 domestic space where the 'pages' have been created for 6 months and (b) a live close-up of one of 'pages' in the making/fermenting. The sweet smell of dried cellulose, the sound of the live fermentation processes at my home audible at the exhibition space, in combination with the visuals provoked a ‘multi sensorial’ experience to visitors.

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Here below, you can find a number of images related to this two year process. Click the photos to enlarge and see them all.