Nerve (2021-present) examines the relationship between humans and the environment. The work consists of four installations that are still under development. The work is a poetic approach to the Anthropocene. With the city as a product of man and man as a product of nature, these three are inextricably linked within one system. How are the different (nervous) systems connected to each other?
The installation Body in Landscape is an interactive think tank. The focus is on exchange and jointly generating images of the future.
Nerve - Landscape 1, 2 and 3 are sculpture landscapes made of resilient materials that also make sound. Each work approaches the Anthropocene from its own theme. Performers and sometimes the audience move the landscapes, creating a shared sonic environment.
Satellite photo by European Space Agency. Title: Shaping the landscape - Mato Grosso, Brazil. Under title: Large areas of deforestation for crops and livestock are evident by the geometrically shaped plots cut out along linear roads. Cattle grazing is the number one cause of deforestation in the Amazon Basin.
Nerve - Landscape 1. explores how humans use raw materials to harness their own energy.
When worn, the mechanism clicks and snaps in all its heaviness, guided by the voice of its wearer. The sculpture moves like a spine, the highway of our nervous system. Constructed of wood with connections of steel and PVC, it simulates the connection between thinking and feeling. Can a human being oversee the consequences of his choices on the landscape?
While the performers leave traces, temporary meanings arise. The work examines where the effort of the performers leads and whether the liveliness of the sculpture is at the expense of its wearer. The question is, do we devote ourselves to material labour or do our raw materials direct us?
When rolled up, the sculpture refers to the shape of year rings in a tree trunk or an ammonite shell, indications of time. Inscriptions in the wood show the vulnerability of raw materials. The materials for this sculpture were harvested from urban terrain and appear as a new landscape after being processed.
Can we reevaluate existing ideas about material and function? The earth absorbs our traces and melts them in its core. Utopia or dystopia remain undecided in this work.
Nerve - Landscape 1. (2021-2022) is a durational and improvised performance, whereby the spectator determines his own time and place in the performance space. The work also exists as installation, video/ photo work, and drawings. Material (recycled) wood, steel, PVC, amount 20 sculptures, dimensions average 45 x 200 cm/ total landscape 360 m2.
Premiered at group exposition "Prospects" Mondriaan Fonds at Art Rotterdam 2022.
Working proces at the residencies: OT301 2021 Amsterdam, LekArt 2021 Culemborg, DOOResidency 2021 Zaandam. Read more about my process at the news page.
Photograph of wooden engraved slat. This is part of the sculpture Nerve - landscape 1., artist and photogrpher Iris Woutera de Jong.
Photography, title Nerve - landscape 1., material wood, steel, PVC, artist Iris Woutera de Jong, photographer Veerle Boekestijn, performer Kim Hoogterp.
Photography, year 2021, title Nerve - landscape 1., material wood, steel, PVC, artist Iris Woutera de Jong, photographer/ videographer Alina Fejzo, Veerle Boekestijn, Iris Woutera, performers Bryan
Atmopairo, Kim Hoogterp, location residency OT301/4Bid gallery Amsterdam.
Video work, year 2021, title Nerve - landscape 1., material wood, steel, PVC, artist Iris Woutera de Jong, videographer Veerle Boekestijn, Iris Woutera, performers Bryan Atmopairo, Kim Hoogterp, location Den Helder.
Nerve - Landscape 2./3. is expected in 2022/2023.
Read more about the Nerve process on the news page.