As a result of a research project made possible by the Amarte Fund, the Mondriaan Fund and the Cultuurfonds, Ivo and Nicole van Driessens & van den Baar have developed a new collection of artworks using wool felt and UV light: Verzwinden.
Verzwinden began as a research project and has resulted in a continuously growing collection of artworks. The works are created by exposing wool felt to UV light. The sun serves as the light source, exposing contact negatives onto the wool felt, a process that takes weeks.
Due to global warming, nature and people are disappearing from their familiar habitats. The images created by Driessens & van den Baar, compiled from a database of nature images and daily news, are the result of a quest to understand our role in these major events, which we as humans cause and, to some extent, can also resolve. What is the meaning and relevance of art in these turbulent times? And how do we give form to what preoccupies us?
The artworks are soft, created through an aggressive form of bleaching using UV light, and contain images that reveal the consequences of the direct impact of human choices. Their appealing softness and colours entice us to look at what is in danger of disappearing and to ask ourselves how we should proceed.