Formally different but content wise similar, the two series enhance and clarify each others meaning using material, presentation and space.
The black/white series consists out of 450 images in 35 mm, approximate size 18 x 12 cm, of different cities throughout Eastern and Western Europe, showing the similarities between obviously different places by focusing on human surroundings although excluding human presence. At first hand the feeling is of empty, serial and impersonal.
The color series consists out of 6 images in 4 x 5 inches, size 120 x 90 cm in passé partout, showing highly detailed interiors of rooms in abandoned country houses on the Romanian countryside. At first glance, the feeling is of individuality, personality and of privacy – the contrary of the black/white series on the opposite wall.
Due to mass evacuation during Communist times, these country houses, of sometimes 10 rooms, once filled with inhabitants, are now partially vacant. The few that stayed behind, couldn’t use all the rooms, but didn’t want to live with empty spaces. Therefore, they decorated and furnished the rooms optically, not functionally.
When looking closely, one understands the rooms are not habited. The dysfunctional placing of furniture, the strange collection of objects and colors, as well as the absence of any personal items, leads to the understanding that these spaces have not evolved naturally but have been constructed purposefully. Contrary to the outlook, they are records of absence, not of presence, cerebral not emotional.
The black and white series is presented in a symmetrical grid, allowing one to look at every picture individually, as well as in combination with others. For every picture an individual approach was used in terms of choice for material, printing and size, which differs in millimeters from print to print. This leads to the thought that all images are of individual relevance, and are therefore not a series, but a personal collection of empty streets and vacant places.
Both works are dealing with absence and emptiness. To translate this feeling to the space, I enlarged the works taking into account the measurements of the space. To create the feeling of an empty room, I placed the 6 color works optically behind the pillars. When one enters, one can’t see the images properly.
The grid for the black/white serves the same purpose. When entering one has an overview of the grid, but can’t see the individual works. When one moves closer to the pictures, one loses the overview and has therefore to constantly change position.
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