Jongeleen’s Running in Circles series originated during the pandemic but has since evolved into a long-term study of the power dynamics of public space, the powerlessness of the individual, and, in his most recent No Man’s Land series, of significant historical battlegrounds. No Man’s Land captures Jongeleen running in endless circles through the landscapes of Northern Europe. Elevating and descending with the landscape’s engraved craters left behind by shells, dodging remnants of explosives, running above old fortifications and alongside WWI memorials - Jongeleen’s performance is engulfed by the history of the land, the same land that was host to events like the Battle of the Somme, one of the deadliest battles recorded in human history.
Jongeleen’s hours and hours of running in circles are documented by a drone. This results in silent recordings of the solitary, intimate action. A performance by the artist who is trapped, stuck in a hamster-wheel of his own making - thereby posing the question: are wars of attrition also hamster-wheels of our own making? We are fighting for our utopian ideals, yet seemingly stuck in the dystopian consequences of our own actions.
Jongeleen’s act is a performance of anarchy in a place marked by power, but what does the uprising of an individual weigh within the wider context of history? Just like the muddy or dusty paths that Jongeleen etches into the landscape, his presence goes almost unnoticed as mother nature continues to exercise her dominance.