Nicholas
Nicholas
Piece one You can tell a leopard by its spots. 2013
What
A semi darkened room is filled with 5 videos projected onto the four walls of the space. Together with large furniture like objects they create a chaotic situation. In these chaotic and nonlinear looping videos we see two kids between the age of 9-16 playing out the tense drama of adolescence by re-enacting popular scenes from TV and movies
How
The objects are clearly hand made, with hard corners and heavy posture. They are constructed out of wood and are colored in semi neon greens and purples. On closer inspection they have patterns that resemble the patterns of the domestic space these the children inhabit.
Why
This video material is found footage from my own childhood. The two boys are myself and my former close friend. Upon finding this material, I was struck by their possibility to become unpacked and reactivated within a larger context of an installation where both the viewer and material were constantly forced to move between the physical, formal structure of the experience of the space and the cinematographic content.
Piece two Noodle de Poodles. 2015 (second piece of Cuddle On a Puddle. 2015
What
Noodle de Poodles, is a body sized object. Glossy and long. Fleshly and brightly colored. The ‘front’ part of this object is made out of two football sized spheres, that are attached with a short neck. On top of the upper sphere we find a smaller sphere, red like the nose of a clown. The body that connects the front, and the end part comprises two loops, with the thickness of an adult arm. The end is another football sized sphere with another red nose on top pointing towards the end.
How
This work is on one hand perceived as a representation of a living creature of some kind. Its shape might evoke feelings in the spectator, he/she might laugh at it, feel empathy towards or develop a variety of different emotions and connections.. On the other hand, it is possibly perceived as a tool, symbol, toy for either dogs or infants, which evokes another set of behaviours and emotions.. It is made out of styrofoam, Acrylic cast, epoxy and paint.
Why
Because the title for this work is of autobiographical nature. Love and lust for another.
A “duality” that splits itself into: poodle as a show dog on one hand and a loving domestic animal on the other. With its imposed non-animate characteristics this dog is often presented on a pedestal due to its beauty - but in domestic context there very opposite.
By playing on its ambivalence this object seeks to create a tension between the viewer, object and the relation the viewer develops toward the object.