Three steps and the mist
October 2023
60m2 installation, collab with
@arthuj.rules ⚒
bricks, gyproc, parafin, wood, bitumen, smoke
Part of the groupshow Ana Selm at
@gallery.ellipsis alongside :
@mylanhoezen @sammyraeniekoop @eelis2442 @kriminal.shaitana @no5ah0bot ✨
Following on from “Where the Fire Stands”, “Three Steps and the Mist” also plays with the animation of the domestic and its de/construction. But this time, smoke doesn’t emerge from the chimney as expected–it escapes from a crack in the side of one of the three walls that make up the piece. This subversion of expectation is the first sign that despite the themes of domesticity the piece evokes, there are also notes of uncertainty present. The chimney itself remains functionless, perhaps ominously so: look down it and nothing can be seen except dense blackness. What is its purpose now?
The smoke hazes our view: as with all domestic settings, something stays opaque, unclear to outsiders. This is reflected as well in Leonor’s wax house, where we can only make out blurry outlines of furniture. Despite the light being on, we will never truly be able to see inside of the home. And the set of stairs in the wax, like Arthur’s chimney, is missing a purpose as they don’t seem to lead to anywhere inside the house, only to empty air.
The three low wall structures are built to match the inside of Ellipsis gallery, both in their facade and their crumbling state. This is a crumbling state which extends outside the gallery building to the streets of Amsterdam itself, where the ongoing housing crises means high rents are demanded for badly kept housing that is scarce.
The piece uses contradiction, then, as it is both animated by the smoke, and frozen by Leonor’s wax. It is realist in its construction of the walls, yet its obsolete stairs and chimneys mean it is illogical. You can best see Arthur’s walls in the light, but Leonor’s wax house is best observed when only the light inside the house is on. And as usual, it is the contradictions which invite reflection.
text by Oriana Rose
@ana.ori_
pics :
@arthuj.rules
#scuplture#installation#wax#opacity#own#fireplace#dense#secrets
![[Archive]Distant lightsChâssis en bois peint, organza, cire36x45cm2021.....#wax#fadingcolors#halogen#heat#light](https://sp1.picnob.com/p/pt_6773495257195443484757_0_989a0524de4d6795b4c7fb86f13a1d76.jpg?o=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&h=13795f4638fe92440d90ef0aa4fbb7f6)
