01-10-2000

by Marieke van Hal

First there was painting, then came photography, and then film and video. When we reflect on these developments – confining ourselves to the artistic use of these media – we could say that, in the course of time, artists have acquired more and more possibilities (‘tools’) to experiment with image. The advent of the computer has greatly contributed to this. If only in the quantitative sense, artists have become better and better equipped, and yet we see how art history keeps on manifesting itself according to recurring themes and patterns. Classical genres, such as portrait and landscape, have never disappeared from the visual arts, nor have such formal aspects as composition, form and style lost any of their importance. Moreover, there is a long tradition of artists referring to predecessors or schools from the past, and throughout the ages, ancient techniques have been reused again and again because of their specific aesthetics or patina. The arrival of more and more new media has not necessarily brought with it a change (read: an acceleration) of the image. And what is more, sometimes artists even implement a certain deceleration.

The Netherlands Media Art Institute, MonteVideo/TBA, presents the work of three young artists from Belgium and the Netherlands, thus showing a few recent acquisitions from the collection. In their work, these artists have one foot in the past and find themselves in the area of tension between stationary and moving image, mainly by reducing the potential of video to a minimum. Small interventions and gestures set the tone for this exhibition that is predominated by apparent simplicity. The images are generally tranquil, unambiguous and do not include much visual activity. Moreover, the relationship between photography and video is investigated in a number of installations. The focal point is the image as such. A spotlighted detail, a single action and/or occurrence places the work of these artists in the space between ‘stasis’ and ‘motion’. The ‘deceleration’ of the video image explained.


The work of David Claerbout (Courtrai, 1969) is a prime example in this context. His video installations show a distinct affinity with painting and photography, the latter if only because many of his projections are in black and white. Claerbout demonstrates that he has a feeling for the right proportions within the two-dimensional plane. The carefully balanced composition, the richly contrasting light and the stillness of his images is reminiscent of the paintings of Edward Hopper. The quality of his work lies partly in the figurative composition of tones. But it is rather – and here he surpasses the masters of the static image – the minute movements within a registered moment that determine the added value of his work. Claerbout reanimates old photo images. He makes use of ‘found footage’ and inspires this with wonder by digitally activating certain details. Kindergarten Antonio Sant’Elia, 1932 (1998) is a large-screen projection based on an old black-and-white photo of children playing in the schoolyard, dressed in white uniforms. It is important to know that the strict planning of the composition (originally propaganda material) has to do with Giuseppe Terrangi, the architect of this nursery school, who was one of the most important representatives of the fascist Razionalismo (Italian School of Rationalism). At first sight, this work has the directness of a painting or photo. But looking more closely, we see that a light wind is blowing through the image, and that the leaves on the tree are moving. Here Claerbout finds himself midway between static and dynamic, between documentary and simulation. The authority and truthfulness of the original photo is called into question.

In Untitled, Carl et Julie (2000), Claerbout’s most recent work, photo and video also flow together. Once again in a well thought-out composition, we see a man and a child sitting at a table. The man faces the viewer, while the child has her back turned towards us. The image remains unchanged throughout the projection. Only when the visitor comes closer to the screen is a sensor activated, and the girl turns her head and looks at us. The interactive element lends to this work the aspect of a ‘living picture’. With a subtle manoeuvre, Claerbout undermines the frozen moment, creating a new approach to the stationary projected image.

Jeroen Offerman (Eindhoven, 1970) slows down the image in an entirely different way. His work can also be placed in a distinct art-historical context. The video installation The Great Escape (2000) has an affinity with the landscape paintings of the German romanticist Caspar David Friedrich. The Romantic School revolved around the artist’s personal feelings and longings. Romanticists wanted to escape from reality and were inclined towards what is faraway, foreign and unfamiliar. Offerman takes romanticism to an extreme, because here, everything is about ‘Sehnsucht’, or in the artist’s own words: when a man is offered the possibility to change his life expectations for good, he doesn’t hesitate a moment and seizes the opportunity. We see a landscape of a beach and the sea on a remote coast. There is not much ‘movement’ in the image, because the camera is in a fixed position and the video virtually consists of a single shot (Offerman regards his work as a ‘living painting’). During the projection, the small speck in the distance slowly changes into an approaching hovercraft. The sound of the engines also builds up more and more, heralding the arrival of the vessel. Once it has landed on the beach, the rear loading ramp is lowered, and a young man runs into the craft and sails away into the distance. Eventually the image is back where it started. We could interpret this work as being rooted in a romantic inclination for individual freedom, with the vessel the symbol of human destiny, a mysterious yearning for distant journeys in both the geographical and spiritual sense, and with the young man as a repoussé figure with whom the viewer can identify by looking over his shoulder into the immense world that is out there. At the same time, The Great Escape refers to science-fiction films in the genre ‘Extraterrestrial life comes to earth to save mankind from its destruction’, such as ‘Close Encounters Of The Third Kind’ by Steven Spielberg or ‘The Day The Earth Stood Still’ by Robert Wise, in which extraterrestrials come to Earth in spaceships to save mankind. The hovercraft can easily serve as a metaphor for a spaceship. Both interpretations (romanticist and sci-fi) have an influence on Offerman’s work. The theme of man versus nature also plays a central role in both interpretations.

Sophie Whettnall (Brussels, 1973) has a background as a painter. In her own words: I still have the feeling that I think in paintings. Whettnall is represented by three works, of which the video Homme Debout (2000) most betrays her painterly view of things. As with Jeroen Offerman, this video consists of a single shot from a fixed camera position, but Whettnall goes even further and reduces the application of video to the extreme. In fact, the image barely changes: with his back to the camera, a dark young man is standing on the bow of a small boat, holding a long piece of wood. Only once does he glance over his shoulder. Nothing much more or less is happening, there is no beginning and no end, but the image is in balance and speaks for itself. The power of expression of this work lies in the beauty of the moment. Or, according to the philosophy of the photographer Alfred Stieglitz: pictures exist in nature, but only an artist sensitive to natural harmonies can identify them.

The video diptych Road Stretch (1999) is totally different in nature, although this work, too, is unambiguous. Here we are confronted with high-speed camera work, so that the images are completely abstracted. Whettnall filmed the side of the road from a moving car. The recordings are projected on two large screens, placed at right angles to each other, with as a result a fascinating video painting of lines and colours. Movement and stillness are harmoniously combined.

Finally, the triptych  (2000) is the only work in which Whettnall does not merely register, but also ‘intervenes’, and plays with the characteristic of video: time. On three large, red projection screens, we see an audience settling down in a concert hall, waiting for a performance - which never comes - applauding, standing up again and leaving. This time, Whettnall has clearly edited her material, in order to create a strong image. She has placed the audience in a visual impasse, and robbed them of their performance. Whettnall: This work is inspired by 17th-century paintings and the infrared examination that they are submitted to, which reveals how the painter went to work. I built up this work layer by layer, the composition slowly unfolds. There are a number of white fields on the red screen, so that a few people and details are spotlighted. As a whole, this is an impressive spectacle, a world in reverse: the audience is not watching, but being watched.

David Claerbout (Kortrijk, 1969)
leeft en werkt in Brussel / lives and works in Brussels
Tentoonstellingen o.a. / Exhibitions include:
2000
groupshow, Le Grand Hornu, Mons
curator :Laurent Busine
solo exhibition, Micheline Szwajcer Gallery, Antwerp
1999
‘Trouble Spot: Painting’, NICC & MUHKA, Antwerpen
curator: Luc Tuymans,
Narcisse Tordoir
‘Four Persons Standing’, S.M.A.K., Ghent
1997
‘Prix de la Jeune Peinture Belge’, Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels

Jeroen Offerman (Eindhoven, 1970)
Leeft en werkt in Londen/ Lives and works in London
Tentoonstellingen o.a. / Exhibitions include:
2000
‘The Ascent of Man’, The Trade Apartment, Brixton, London
‘A Shot in the Head’, Lisson Gallery, London
‘Living with the Dead’, Erlanger Road, London
‘Buren/Neighbours’, Van Abbe Museum, Eindhoven
1998
Goldsmiths College, London
‘Clusterbomb’, Morrison/Judd Gallery, London

Sophie Whettnall (Brussel, 1973)
Leeft en werkt in Brussel / Lives and works in Brussels
Tentoonstellingen o.a. / Exhibitions include:
2000
‘Le Lustre et Le Robinet’, La Maison de Marijke Schreurs, Brussels (solo with Lionel Esteve)
1999
‘Prix de la Jeune Peinture Belge’, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels
‘Trafique’, participation in project of Meshac Gaba, S.M.A.K. extra muros, Ghent
‘Entre-Deux’, Provinciaal Museum voor Fotografie, Antwerpen
1999 ‘Déroutes’, Galerie Albert Baronian, Brussels (solo exhibition)