“ i hereby declare my soul as a legal resident of … ” is part of a larger project entitled: “sKinHouse”. The projects are site-specific installations & consist of primal structures assembled from extremely delicate elements. Possible materials are transparent sheets, white starched cotton or specific starched fabric from, for example dressing gowns characteristic of European grandmothers during the 1960’s. For the fragile way in which the segments are joined together is deliberate; either stitched or stapled together, the particles form walls which are intentionally delicate. The structures can appear solo or in groups, positioned on floors or floating across a particular space and are always to be entered, if in single appearance. Proportion and size are based on human scale.
In this way, I want to create ‘an essence’ which mainly expresses an almost ethereal physicality & so by nature entirely opposite to those defined bounds of a brick walled space. This delicate body is in fact a second space in a space. The sensation involves rather ‘perception by feeling’ than experiencing ‘by sight’; a state of consciousness resulting from a frail emotion caused by an ethereal void at & in a ‘particular’ location. The following words of Robert Macfarlane in “The Old Ways” might help me to explain a little more: “He discovers that paths offer not just means of traversing space, but also of feeling, knowing and thinking. The old ways lead us unexpectedly to the new, and the voyage out is always a voyage inwards.”
Specifically for Joya:arte + ecologia, I would like to present either a single or multiple version in the typical 60-ie fabric pieces or the starched white. Choice depends on proportion and character of the exhibition space. The fabric, which is to be found and collected in clothing recycling shops, is then to be cut in equal pieces before naturally starching with rice starch. The starching process also involves ironing before mounting individually on a skeleton which is preferably translucent or very lucid in material. Though I also would like to take the opportunity to use local materials and/or indigenous techniques/solutions which can be triggered by the uniqueness of Joya as a pristine space/location with a very characteristic culture and landscape.
