#451-54 Movement

I did this work by pouring stones out of a bucket while moving around the panels on the floor. The method can be reminiscent of how some artists in abstract expressionism worked, with the canvas horizontal and the movements of the body around it reflected in the work.

A social or political movement can be defined as essentially revolving around one specific issue, unlike an organisation or party that relates to all aspects of society. The individual participates in organisations as a subject, i.e. independently and consciously, but also subject to the organisation's structure. In a movement, the individual participates more with the body. It is more about concrete, precarious problems than ideological choices and can be compared to dancing, the flight of birds in a flock or the movements of fish in a shoal. Or a crowd of people in a protest. These movement's forms arise from the participants' individual actions, organised around a few simple principles based on proximity, direction and speed. The shape is distinct but fluid, changing depending on the individuals participating. In the organisation or party, the structure is superior and more static. It remains even if the members are replaced. It resides within the register of language, while a movement reaches the realm of matter.

Speaking Stones is a compilation of paintings made with imprints of ordinary stones.

I see the stone as a metaphor for popular struggle and protest. It is the closest available weapon to the powerless. Throwing stones is a symbolic form of violence. The aim is not to overpower the opponent physically. It demonstrates defiance in the face of power by expressing concretely that the premises of the situation aren't acceptable. The stone speaks but not in a language open to negotiation or dialogue. A conversation means accepting the context in which it takes place and is thus always, to a certain degree, a form of submission. The language of stones is the language of mute matter. A form of silence that nevertheless speaks clearly and directly. The stone represents the resistance in itself from a place outside of language.

The stone is an entirely exchangeable and ordinary object that exists everywhere. At the same time, each stone is unique and has its own beauty and unfathomable mystery for anyone open to seeing it. This duality fascinates me. A stone is perhaps the closest we can get to a thing-in-itself, bound as we are to language. Sealed around itself, oblivious to the outside world. Simply existing. In a way, we can never truly understand. Infinite in its everydayness. Specific and concrete in its presence.

Res Ipsa is a compilation of works made by an act shaping the filler once it is prepared inside the frame. The works thus function as a recording device and give a statement of the event taking place while the filler was still wet.

Res Ipsa is Latin for "the thing itself" and is part of the juridical term "Res ipsa loquitur" (the thing speaks for itself), used when an injury or accident in itself clearly shows who is responsible, such as an instrument left inside a body after surgery.