28 august 2023, Wouter van den Eijkel
The studio of... Sander Coers
What do you do when the trauma in your family is never addressed? What can you do to better understand those involved after their death? Photographer Sander Coers' grandfather fled the Dutch East Indies and never talked about his experiences. Coers got hold of his photo albums and enlisted the help of AI for his new series POST. "It's my way of piecing together my family's untold past and placing myself in that family history." At Unseen, the series POST is being shown by Galerie Ron Mandos.
Where is your studio and what does it look like?
My studio is a room in my apartment in Rotterdam that has been converted into a studio. It is around 20m2 with a storage room next to it. It's quite basic really, with white walls, a large desk to work on and an old bookcase for my books. Scattered throughout the room are works against the walls, my guitar and amplifier are in the corner and I have two tubular frame chairs by Mart Stam. Depending on how busy I am, it can be a huge mess, with everything is strewn all over the floor. But it’s usually quite tidy and neat.
I often work in the living room, because the light comes through the windows so beautifully. On an average day, I walk back and forth between my studio and living room about 30 times. There is a staircase between the two areas, so the workout is a bonus.
Sander Coers, poto albums POST
You’re a photographer, which means you have different requirements for a studio space than a painter or sculptor. What makes a good studio for you?
My ideal studio would be a large, bright room with high ceilings and lots of natural light. My current studio is (unfortunately) just the opposite. But I'm on the road a lot, so I don't need much space right now. I mainly use my studio to store framed works, materials and other things. In addition to my art, I make music, so I also use the space to record.
At Unseen, Gallery Ron Mandos is showing work from your new series POST. For this series, you decided to supplement photos from your grandfather's photo albums by having an AI bot generate images. Why did you feel the need to do this?
I wanted to get closer to my grandfather, who passed away in 2021. He was part of the generation that had to flee from the Dutch East Indies after World War II, part of the collective trauma resulting in the ‘Indo’s Silence', about which a beautiful documentary has been made by Sven Peetoom and Juliette Dominicus. It's my way of sort of piecing together my family's untold past and placing myself in that family history.
Sander Coers, POST, 2023
It is striking that this series, just like your previous work, takes place in the domestic sphere. Is that a prerequisite for you?
It fascinates me to examine the world close to me because this means examining myself. Each project reflects a phase of life or an issue that is central to my life. I then automatically trace such a theme back to, for example, my family, friends or the place where I grew up.
You usually work with analogue film, so wasn't the step to AI a big one?
Like many people, I read about AI in the news and was curious (and hesitant about) its possibilities. This project started as an experiment. Initially, I toyed around with the program a bit. I was at my parents' house and while waiting for the rendering, I was browsing through a photo album of my grandfather that my father happened to have brought from my grandmother's house. I quickly noticed the connection between my activity and the pictures, so I decided to find out whether I could process these pictures using this program.
Sander Coers, POST, 2023
What struck me is that there are tremendous similarities between the final images and my previous work, which I photographed exclusively analogue. At any rate, my fascination with the past creates a certain visual aesthetic. I suspect this stems from my childhood, when I was already obsessed with flipping through old photo albums. Subconsciously, this must be so deeply ingrained in my memory that it still shines through in my visual style.
Are there similarities between prompting an AI bot and shooting film on location?
Not really. I prefer to work outdoors, lugging stuff and walking for hours through nature looking for the right spot. I like to give myself a physical challenge and make things difficult for myself rather than easier. Something magical happens when you're not in control.
POST had to be told using this new technique. Like a camera, I view AI as a tool to depict a story. It's a means to an end. So, I don't see myself as an AI artist or anything, but I don't oppose these new developments either.
Sander Coers, POST, 2023
Your work revolves around the question of what it means to be a man. Does that question also return in the new series?
Definitely. With this series, I focus on the interplay between constructed memories and perceptions of masculinity in visual culture. The combination of AI technology and photo albums creates images that not only create a new narrative, but also highlight the issues of masculinity and memory. This reflects my ongoing search for what constitutes masculinity and how it is experienced in the context of contemporary digital manipulation and representation.
The results are remarkable at times, such as the black man walking through an Alpine meadow, while the imported images take place in Indonesia. Why did you decide to include these images?
I scanned and entered my grandparents’ photo albums from the 1940s to 1990s, so the story spans several generations. This sometimes creates strange combinations of people, places and situations that the bot takes from the albums. I make crops of these new images or combine different images to create a new narrative. In addition to an investigation into my family history, it is also an investigation into the transformative role of photography in which we take photography less and less as gospel.
Sander Coers, POST, 2023
If I gave you carte blanche, what project would you immediately start working on?
Ideally, I would like to make a feature film in which all the themes I explore in my work come together.
What are you currently working on?
Blue Mood (Al Mar), my previous series, will soon be released as a publication in collaboration with Booooooom, an art platform from Vancouver. I also have a number of projects in the pipeline in which I want to experiment with new (printing) techniques. In one of those projects, I am working with my girlfriend Vera and we are combining her watercolours of flowers with portraits of men inspired by 'The Elizabethan Malady', a trend in 16th century England that involved being portrayed as melancholy, vulnerable and thoughtful.
Sander Coers, POST, 2023
