My work focuses primarily on everyday processes of meaning-making and value-determination. At its basis lies a habit of collecting material, auditory and linguistic phenomena in my immediate environment. By editing and reframing these fragments, I arrive at spatial, graphic, textual and auditory works that each in their own way seek a subtle poetry of attention. Inspired by George Perec's notions of the infra-ordinary, I focus on the space in which things are overlooked: because the everyday is characterized by its repeated presence, it is questioned too little. My research often starts from a concrete environment and questions the cultural and psychological nuances of its underlying attention regime.
The Rehearsal
An exercise in performance as performance, rehearsal of an assigned text.
A polar bear in a snowstorm
A series of spatial interventions as part of a summer residency in Rib, Rotterdam, including: a pétanque court; a commissioned Ikebana flower composition; a presentation of Nature had its time, a publication by Lukas de Ryck and Nikolaas Verstraete reflecting on the plants in Joris-Karl Huysmans' A rebours; an essay written as a personal reflection on five years of professional involvement with the art space, performed during the finissage.
Shelf Life
An exhibition in my bookcase during South Explorer, with works on paper by Matt Hinkley, Ash Kilmartin, Liesbeth Van Heuverswijn and myself.
"Soms,"
A self-organised exhibition accompanied by a fable by the Dutch author Toon Tellegen, about small gestures of great importance.
Short Pieces That Move!
In 2022, SPTM! was initiated as a publishing collective focused on accessibility of publishing (cheap, anti-gatekeeping, anti-prestige) and that processes of editing, design, printing and publishing all offer opportunities to learn from each other. The collective works closely with both new and experienced writers and organizes regular workshops as part of an ongoing open research. They publish about 8 pamphlets per year.
Het Moordenaartje
For half a year I edited and designed Het Moordenaartje. This neighborhood newspaper was published by Rib and distributed in Charlois, a strongly gentrifying neighborhood with rather heterogeneous communities. The newspaper collected a multitude of local voices and events—not to unite them, but to reintroduce them as an artistic collage in the streets. The name of the newspaper is derived from a steam tram that once made the neighborhood unsafe.
Studio Lieneman
With Studio Lieneman I design posters, flyers, publications and other printed matter, mainly within the cultural sector. With an artistic-graphic background, the studio offers a different way to deal experimentally with organizing and communicating information.
Sticks and bells may make me dwell but chimes will never herd me
A display of walking sticks decorated with bottle caps and 'Stocknagel', to be taken by the audience during their visit to the Graduation Show of the Piet Zwart Institute's MFA. The sticks can be used as a tool to discover the exhibition with, as an appendix which traces one's path and location, as a simple instrument with which to play together in temporary collectivities.
Ever Widening Circles / Early World Catalogue
Ever Widening Circles is a radio show on Radio WORM, Rotterdam, co-hosted with Ash Kilmartin since January 2021. These live audio collages feature music, field recordings and sound art. Since December 2023 we present Early World Catalogue as a duo on Operator Radio: a monthly morning show for distracted listeners. We have also played on other online radio stations: Tirkultura (Riga), Palanga St Radio (Vilnius), Good Times Bad Times (Rotterdam) and elsewhere.
Oratory Services
A series of performances that I organized in the public space around Rib. The OS introduced new sounds into the neighborhood, which merged with the already existing noise, such as the banging of illegal fireworks or the creaking of renovations. The participating artists played with the social phonetics of everyday expressions, echoing each other and being open to the inevitable feedback of the neighborhood. The performances remained unannounced and were documented in video.
4uurtje
4uurtje was a series of listening sessions in various Charloisse living rooms, with live performances and DJ sets. Due to the measures, the project was forced to continue online as a joint watch-and-listen stream.