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Alex van Warmerdam

Alex van Warmerdam, ‘De Noorderlingen’ (‘The Northerners’) (1992)

A surreal black comedy set in a decrepit 1960’s housing development. When his mother is drawn into sainthood and the resulting frustrations of his father become too difficult to manage, Thomas, a young boy, becomes obsessed with events on the broadcast news. The liberation of the Belgian Congo is taking place and Thomas becomes Lumumba, one of the contenders as the Congo’s new leader. He is encouraged in this escapism by Plagge, the postman who reads all the mail and knows all of the bizzarre and intimate secrets of the eccentric inhabitants of the estate.

By mh | Posted in Abstraction | Also tagged alex van warmerdam, belgian congo, de noorderlingen, decrepit, development, empty, film, fuckem, fun, houses, housing, lumumba, mother, movie, netherlands, northerners, sainthood, streets, unknown | Comments (0)

Gregor Schneider

Gregor Schneider, ‘Die Familie Schneider’ (2004)

Die Familie Schneider took place in neighbouring, identical houses – 14 and 16 Walden Street, London. The houses were open by appointment only and visitors – always two at a time – collected the front door keys from a small office on the same street. One visitor entered 14 Walden Street alone, whilst the other entered the neighbouring house.

In each was an identical woman, perpetually washing the same dishes; in each was a child, or a child-like person – wrapped placidly within a plastic bag; and in each was a man in a shower, engaged in a stark and lonely act of masturbation. After a period of ten minutes, the visitors emerged, exchanged keys and entered the second house.

At no time was there ever more than one visitor in each house.

By mh | Posted in Composition | Also tagged action, actors, artangel, atmosphere, creepy, dishes, DIY, gregor schneider, house, houses, identical, installation, Keys, london, man, masturbating, movie, performance, plastic, public art, repression, reproduction, romance, scene, trash, twins, two, unknown, visitors, washing, wrapped | Comments (0)

Roman Ondák

Roman Ondák, ‘Teaching to walk’ (2002)

Every day a young mother spent half an hour in the gallery helping her child take its first steps.

By mh | Posted in Abstraction | Also tagged action, balance, bratislava, DIY, house, intimacy, learning, light, mother, performance, private, public, roman ondak, romance, slovenia, steps, teaching, unknown, walking | Comments (0)

Vaast Colson

‘Though a lie be swift, the truth overtakes it. Ten fibs I told as a child’ (2006) by Vaast Colson

Ten lies Vaast Colson told as a child were printed on 500 white balloons. Each balloon is accompanied by a mini-disc on which Colson explains the project and a signed and numbered information card. During the opening the balloons were filled with helium and released. The people who found a balloon were invited to send a photograph of themselves with the balloon. The most distant balloon thus far was found at 770 km from Antwerp.

By mh | Posted in Abstraction | Also tagged action, anecdotes, balloons, cds, collection, DIY, event, fibs, fuckem, fun, lies, narration, performance, public art, relational aesthetics, small, speech, ten, text, told, unknown, Vaast Colson, wind | Comments (0)

The hidden mother

This was a practice where the mother, often disguised or hiding, often under a spread, holds her baby tightly for the photographer to ensure a sharply focused image.

From The Hidden Mother

By mh | Posted in Abstraction | Also tagged action, blog, chair, DIY, fuckem, fun, furniture, hidden, installation, light, mother, performance, photography, posing, romance, sculpture, the wild, unknown | Comments (0)