Unseen 2022
Westergas, 15-18 September 2022
Duo booth (#32) with Joeri Woudstra and Inge Schoutsen
The work of both artists will present a hybrid presentation from lens-based work till installation. Contrasting approaches towards the object trouvé engage in conversation, the memorial audiovisual reconstructed compositions of Woudstra against the semiotic imagery of Schoutsen.
At Unseen Joeri Woudstra (1993) will show a mechanic Mupi, the ones we see on our daily commutes. A 'piece of street furniture', designed purely as a neutral carrier of advertising and visual culture in the public space. By removing the Mupi from its original context, the object emphatically becomes part of the art displayed. Instead of passing by and passively accepting the presence of the object in our surroundings, the audience pauses for a moment and gets the chance to appreciate the object for its visual qualities. An ongoing series of poster-sized works rotate inside, referring to the aesthetics of contemporary street advertising culture, revealing a new composition 10 seconds at a time.
Next to that, Woudstra will also show a new work in which he dives even deeper into the analysis of this object trouvé, turning it inside out and outside in.
Schoutsen (1974) did react on Woudstra’s works by stepping on new grounds with a floor piece “The secret rules of engagement’. Schoutsen’s point of departure is the semiotic language in imagery. She takes that literally by using imagery of signs in traffic touched by unintentional human interaction. Like Woudstra, she distilled the object trouvé from its context but tucks it into an observational and symbolic perspective.
Schoutsen accompanies the floor piece with some new photopolymer etchings. With these new works Schoutsen aimed for a more profound presence of abstraction in her photo’s, therewith blending in perfectly with the rest of the booth presentation.