DEAD DARLINGS #10
ANONYMOUS ART AUCTION
Dead Darlings Auction Program
This publication seves both as event catalogue and auction program, with corresponding lot numbers.
Participating Artists in Alphabetical order. Alex Kat Alice Sprascio Angela Lidderdale Anika Schwarzlose Anna-Lena Wenzel Annaleen Louwes Anne-Laure Ruffin Anu Vahtra Aquil Copier Arja Hop & Peter Svenson Audrius Kriaučiūnas Betty Ras Brian D. McKenna Charlott Markus Chris Rijk Crys Leung Elsa-Louise Manceaux Fleur van Dodewaard Franziska Schulz Giorgos Gripeos Hanna Mattes Hugo Naber Hymmen and Hiroi Ine Lamers Jack Faber Jacopo Calonaci Jens Masmann Jessie Yingying Gong Johannes Schwartz Joris Landman Joseph Miceli Justina Nekrašaitė Karly Rose Katarina Juričić Kateryna Snizhko
Kim Boske Krista van der Niet Kyle Tryhorn Lotte Reimann Maki Shimizu Marianne Kalsbeek Marianne Vierø Marie Ilse Bourlanges Matthias Tharang Michael Gurhy Mirjam Linschooten Monika Zarzeczna Mylou Oord Müge Yilmaz Oran Hoffmann Pantelis Makkas Peter Spaans Pier Pennings Robert Pennekamp Roberto Perez Roman Tkachenko rosanayaris (Rosana Sanchez Rufete and Aris Spentsas) Ruben van der Scheer Ruggero Magrí Ruth van Beek Sanne Bax Sara Barbosa de Campos Svenja Kaufmann Tania Theodorou Thomas Jansen Thomas Monses Tzvika Guttter Vytautas Kumža
And these are their stories‌
01 In my project I was to research, index and catalogue the remains of a collection of obsolete material an artist had left behind in storage, his ‘material archive’. I photographed the pieces singularly and removed from their possible faint history, focussing merely on the material of the elements and their color. During the process in which I felt compelled to be strict to my set out objectives, small assemblies sprung about.
02 This work is the residual trace of a powerful personal experience in the jungle. It’s not exactly a flash, and it didn’t fade away, it’s something that burns brightly inside of me. It is, however, time for this piece to become something new for somebody else.
03 On Friday 21 September 2018, Zak Kostopoulos, died as a consequence of brutal beatings in Athens, Greece. Zak was an HIV positive, sex positive, queer, human rights activist and defender, also raising awareness performing as drag queen Zackie Oh. This image is in memory of my dear Friend Zak. Zackie Oh you left us like a flash in the pan… so early, so sudden… …you were a flash of gold! R.I.P. #justiceforZakZackieOh
04 This photograph was part of the installation Unseen image | Intangible material. Photographs of pipes were mounted at peculiar places on the exhibition wall that
seemed like x-rays of the existing infrastructure of the building. Pipes as communicators, used to convey substances that flow.
05 This ‘device’ – a synthetic tongue prototype – was a prop for an artistic take on a sci-fi movie, to be utilized by a robotic structure as tasting device. The device saw as much appreciation as it did light of day, since the movie was never commissioned after it’s pilot. Lately, a few of my friends, when noticing it lying on a stack of papers in my studio, said: “Gee, that is a beautiful paperweight, look at those crazy reflections!” Which is why I believe it is time to shake the dust off and bring it back as a functional sculpture.
06 In my painting practice I make many tests and try outs. This results in many failures or at least not all the paintings that i have started will finally result in a work that make it to be exhibited… This means making choices all the time, in or out. The works that are out have not been useless, not at all. They all had to be made to get to this sharp selection called your oeuvre. And sometimes, these works are really great and experimental. It could be compared with the music industry back in the time of vinyl records. The was the radio hit single (side A) and there was the back side (side b). The b side was usually way more experimental and sometimes even better musically than the a side. The work auctioned today could be seen as a b side work and this is why it can be seen as a flash in the pan.
07 Sometimes I come across this work and I think ‘what are you doing here?’ You already had to leave the house and you are not the only one. Now you are packed in bubble plastic as protection in a dark corner of the attic. That is not good. You need air and light. Another environment. I can no longer see you standing in the dark, day in and day out.
08 Orange is hot, red is extreme, green is mean, yellow is advancing and purple is retiring. But all I want to talk about is blue. And I did talk. And it was the last time ‘I’ve been talking’ as an artist. I shut up. Nowadays I call myself a culture engineer / curator. 11th November 2016 was the opening of my first solo show in my homeland and the last show of my artistic practice. After the gallery door was closed, we covered the work in bubble wrap, shipped back to the Netherlands, where it quietly stood in the basement. A great symbol of something developed and reached, a symbol of new beginnings and a glorious end, the work deserves to inspire and shift people, rather than stay shamefully still and lost.
09 I have an embarrassing small coin purse at my house. I guess most people have one. I go to it whenever I run out of money. It used to have 50 c coins and higher, but lately it has been reduced to 5 c coins. I wanted to visualize this relationship that I have with money while restoring a sense of self worth again. I like the tension between the concentration of being still and the slipperiness of the coins. Although I made this
piece to be part of an exhibition, I didn’t dare to hang it on the show. Now is leaning somewhere in my house, but I keep moving it around trying to find a place for it.
10 This photograph has been taken in 1997, it is a self exposure photo of me and my, at that time, boyfriend. It is part of a séries that started in 1996, and has been continuously going on. This photograph is a result of a analog process, where a slide film is exposed in the camera and then processed not in a E6 process but in a C41 process which is used for negative film. This results in an extreme shift of color. This process is commonly known as cross process.
11 Working for the annual fine art photography magazine Ordinary is always fun to do! 20 artists from around the world are sent one ordinary object, to make it extra- ordinary and be published in the magazine.. But sadly the story ends when the viewer closes the magazine and puts it back in the bookshelf. And that is quite frustrating after so much time and effort for one single image. Especially with the straws it was hard to create something playful and fun. This photo almost became my most expensive photo so far. Because I ordered around 20 bags of straws and I tried a dozen of other set-ups first. From burning straws, taping them all together and connecting them to creating a chess game from straws. After two days of trial and error, failing and a lot of frustration one of my very first idea’s worked best. In the end the most simple and (by far) the cheapest solution to the problem. To celebrate all the failed test photo’s, frustration and money
wasted on straws I would like to give this image a second chance!
12 The Post-it City was part of a research before going on a half year residency to New York. I wanted to prepare myself for the big city and was playing around with the clichés and many representations of New York. Before I left, I showed these prints at an open studio. No one seemed to particularly like them. Later, in New York, once more, no one paid attention to them. Even though I still find them very relevant to the city and to the work I created there, they never had an audience. A friend of mine suggested it’s the green color that is a little repulsive. Who knows? Will someone see past this barrier and find the love in their heart for this little misfit that is so close to mine?
13 This is a picture I felt uncomfortable with. For one reason: most of the people I showed it to defined it as ‘beautiful’. So I feel a bit weird, having problems with producing beautiful pictures. Most of my work is linked to urban spaces, often failed urban structures. Many viewers would describe the places shown as ugly or at least rough – still I would try to depict these places in a beautiful way, give some appeal to those places. But a place, which is beautiful by itself seemed odd to me. So am I sticking with a cliché by avoiding a visual cliché? The plant shown is a European Smoketree.
14 This work was part of a research that ended prematurely. Research is a big part
of my work therefore I kept it with me for quite a while. Relocating this work gives me the possibility to review and give meaning to it at this point in time. This Dead Darling might be the starting point for something new.
15 Ecce Nates! was made specially for an exhibition in London, thus it seems to have had it’s fifteen minutes of fame, were it not that just before that show would open, the curator e-mailed me that ‘actually it doesn’t fit the general feeling, ambiance and character of what I am trying to achieve, so I sent back your work yesterday. But we’ll post you on Instagram!’ Now this neo-social realistic piece of craftsmanship-comforting and disarming in its sobriety- that connects past, present and future, makes a powerful contribution to more than one field of the public discourse and stretches the generally accepted attitude towards bodily culture, was counting its days in a cardboard tomb, staring into the ever lightless glowing darkness until it makes its rentrée in the spotlight of Dead Darlings.
16 I made this film for a presentation of research and showed it at an open day, it was not well received by my supervisors but those that had the chance to catch it, loved it (as is so often the case). This work is a flash in the pan as I have continued to use this still to promote other events/ lectures I am participating in but the work never really got its full moment of glory. Secondly, I get so much pleasure from the idea of this being on someone’s wall; pee is political and is at its best when shared!
17 This DD is a resent one. A couple of months ago I stamped a similar constellation of shapes straight onto a carpet lined exhibition structure and made this print as a color and density reference. Over the past years I have instal the work, which must be stamped straight onto the exhibition wall or ceiling, on several occasions but this was the first time a reference print was needed (the usual white walls don’t call for it). At the end I really like how it turned out. However, as it doesn’t really fit the site specific nature of the work it had its 15 min right there during the exhibition build up.
18 It’s all a question of timing , thinking ahead , being at the right place at the right time. Searching an ideal location on google earth and the day before making sure that the total eclipse of the moon would rise above the IJselmeer from the apex of the ultramarine triangle especially constructed for the event. A natural phenomenon transposed to an abstract photographic image where fantasy and reality embrace. The forecast was for clear skies and we were just in time to claim our spot on the dike along with about twenty heavily digitally equipped enthusiasts. 9.30 became 9.45 became 10 o’clock and still no totally eclipsing moon. Missed in the mist… a dead darling in the making.
19 Back in a day, I used to work for a small, niche magazine that would cover stories on how hospitals use their budget. On one such occasion, I was doing a reportage about a hospital reopening a department
after it was refurbished. Many local, regional and several national decision makers were invited to see for themselves how the money was absorbed. In between the shots of the ribbon cutting and such I captured this gentleman off guard, acting as a patient whose brain is going to be scanned.
20 The print was made for a series where it ultimately did not really fit in. It is the first full color silkscreen I made – and it turned out completely beautiful. While in the workshop the print attracted so much attention. From printers and visitors alike. It seemed ironic that when it was shown as part of the final presentation, it was sort of drowning in the works around it. Maybe at Dead Darlings it can have a second moment in the light.
21 The work should get a second chance, because though it was shown once in a group show at a gallery-it was not sold. My name however was mentioned in a newspaper article. Now, I would love not only for my name get mentioned, but also for the work to find a new place out there!
22 From a series of photographs of Dutch cuisine made at the Snackcar De Vrijheid – iconic place in Den Haag where you can snack all night long. Idea was to create an aesthetic clash between the rusty interior of the place and food that is being consumed within it.
23 This work is part of a larger series which is entitled ‘Food Fight’. The series explored various societal and individual confrontations with unhealthy eating. Studies have said that an average American eats over 3600 calories a day, well above the optimal 2000 calories. The food industry, contributed to this epidemic, with high calorie meals earning them around 200 billion dollars a year. While sumo wrestlers have a long-standing tradition of fairly healthy food, their goal is to be large, and they gain their bulk by consuming around 20,000 calories a day. In this painting, the sumo wrestler charges against one of the biggest enemies in this battle for our bodies and our health. The piece was exhibited once, along the rest of the series, in its 15 minutes of fame at a gallery in London, and since has been hidden away in storage.
24 On an island near Capri the Sirens sang even more beautiful than the Fire Brigade. Sailors couldn’t resist the sound of the half-gods, and when landing on the island the poor guys were sucked empty by these half birds/ half women. It’s an unavoidable metaphor: caught by the irresistible greed to own the Gods, we’re fucked and sucked by them. No more Orpheus or Odysseus to resist them. Our empty shells will be floating on an endless sea. All the Gods are dead as well, after eating their own creators. Nobody will hear the peaceful chatter of the sea, the way it was before the Beginning.
25 The Palast der Republik was made in Berlin while the original Palast der Republik was
being slowly dismantled, piece by piece. Not far away from the original, the new Palast was slowly rebuilt, piece by piece from stamps of little building blocks, black ink on black paper. I enjoyed the building process and the choice of materials, the Palast itself became part of me. In certain lighting conditions it is hard to see, so a little spotlight may help..
26 It can be compared to a situation when you cook a big dinner and the amount of food is overwhelming you even forget to finish preparing your favorite dish… At the moment of the serving, it just stays on your kitchen table full of potential but giving no taste. The diner goes well, everybody including you are well fed and happy. However, when you get back to finishing the dish the moist has taken over, the motive is different and the timing is not right. You like to imagine that you froze it on time and will get it out in far more intimate and calmer moment. The work has a similar story. I fancied the stained glass and this was my first introduction to it. However other works got on the way. The material and conceptual parts were not yet at the point of being ready for the time of the show. Almost a year after, it came to some end but there was no-one to share it with. Since then it stayed in a dark moist room. I dream of giving it some other light.
27 This Diptych is from a sequence of works I made while contemplating and modifying stock imagery, and specifically the images found in ready made frames. I would take those out and place the dark shadows where I felt they belong… These two were particular favorites, a stylish woman
enjoying leisure time on a sailboat, and a loving mother holding her smiling child in a slightly stifling embrace. I always worked on the ‘original’ so everything was a one off, kind of making the generic image original again… In this case I broke my rules and made reproductions… I realized the irony, and killed those lovely darlings, after showing them once. Still love them, hope they find a home.
28 What if there was a possibility to exchange one five-euro bill for 5 times its value? Actually you can. There are 12 unusual bills accompanied by a certificate, folded and marked in different ways. If you achieve to bid one of those you could try to keep it and initiate a game of speculation relating it’s value with the rest or you could at least buy a cheap drink for yourself in the next bar.
29 This image was made for a thematic exhibition. My reaction to the theme required the use of some non-standard techniques which were so complicated and tedious, I can hardly imagine going down that road again. It was, however, a very productive time. Of the many surprises this process entailed, this image stands out as being so foreign to my initial intentions, that it carries a certain personal resonance.
30 Boomstronkig came into existence in between series: tagging on to the end of one and initiating the next. It had its debut a while back, but then it fell into pieces. Now restored and altered a little, it is still making promises.
31 This work was a suspicious evaluation of notions such as The world is made of language – which is predominantly true, yet the only real words you can savor are the ones you compose with your Alphabet Pasta as a merrily un-philosophical infant. Due to the city’s increase by nearly 200% of Halal snack bars in the past 5 years (you can check the official statistics in the yearly Kamer Van Koophandel report) and the increase by 300% of my linguistic puzzlement, I think it’s time to reintroduce this helplessly inedible Turkish pizza.
32 Once showed at an open day at the academy, a visitor happily informed me that he met his future husband in one of the portrayed chairs. That fact aside, the images of the chairs (that faithfully served in different porno establishments) are still darlings and definitely deserve to come out of my closet. “When the flash tears the darkness you see where you are. The illusion is flashed away. Instead of eroticism or a fuck, you get a dirty basement or a rebuilt storage. Suddenly you see the torn seats, the dirt on the walls, smelling the dense odor. It is not a cosy place like the soft velvet chairs once promised. It is a dirty room with tired old chairs, which couldn’t even be sold at the flea market. Like a vampire, never being reached by sunlight it hides from everyday life and the morals that comes with it. But dirt attracts, just like chaos. The man at the counter said “If we replace the chairs people don’t come! They like to feel at home, it is like when you once tasted a good pussy you want it again and again, you just don’t let anybody come in-between!”
33 Marseille, Saturday 27th of April 1974. Henry Kissinger is serving his last three months as Secretary of state under Richard Nixon, whom will soon resign. Henry tries to make sense of his stream of consciousness in preparation of addressing the US Consulate in uptown Marseille. He finds himself marooned in his metaphors, wondering how all the chess pieces always end up in the same box regardless of victory or defeat. This still is a scene filmed on the coastal road of Le Parc Calanques. It did not make the cut. It is my darling because of its logic and natural oddness.
34 Up until Lenin’s death in 1924, the great experiment still seemed like a promising new social phenomenon. Afterwards, it was seen only as a flash in the historical pan.
35 I think this piece deserves a second chance in the spotlight because it got overshadowed with other more glossy artworks in my exhibition at the time, “Objects of Desire”. I don’t think people really knew what to make of this piece and although I sold everything else this piece came home with me. I love to sit in the uncomfortable vulnerability of this piece because at some point in our all lives we begin to feel like we are Undone.
36 ‘’This set was made following the idea of a post-apocalyptic scenario where mankind would have to start again from the ground zero of technology; the memory of an
advanced civilization tangible only through materials that were left behind. Tools are again being made, some for survival and others for leisure, triggering vague memories of comfortable lifestyles. Like animals kept in captivity for a long time, once back in the wilderness, the new people will have a long way to go…’’
37 Published as a sketch for an intervention in the exhibition catalogue, this collage was meant to visualize my upcoming work. During the period between the printer’s deadline and the opening of the exhibition, the work changed while in progress and this particular idea was never realized. The thought behind it, however, is still relevant in my practice today and therefore deserves to be in the spotlight once again.
38 What happens after art school? Clearly, we all become famous and enjoy an exciting and creative life sustained by the loads of money that our work generates. Well, that would be nice… For many of us, working outside of the arts, while maintaining a studio practice, is the most common scenario. After all the flowers, the celebration and the emotional hangover only last while they last after graduation is over. This selfportrait and self-reflection was produced at this junction in time. Who knows? Perhaps now, as a dead darling, it – and by extension myself – can enjoy another moment of brightness under the spotlight.
39 I stopped doing calligraphy because I was frustrated with my brain wanting one thing
and my hand another. Only once, before I quit, there had been a point of bliss, a moment where my hand started to sync with my brain. After two hours of practice I realized that instead of feeling accomplishment, I felt imprisoned. In the end I stopped concerning myself with methodology and started just listening to my body, embracing what it wanted to create instead of fighting against it.
40 We made this work for a calendar project which was a special artist edition with original prints. We provided them with our printing plates and this print. Because it is a different format and concept than any other one in our series, I had difficulty showing them in our exhibitions in the last years. It was printed with 8 woodblocks in 11 colors. Limited 8 edition!
41 I made this piece during a big commission and I was experimenting with edges, holes and details for the final pieces. In the process I made this mask. It was left in a box because the commission was about tables, shelving and cabinets. I kept the mask because I felt it could be something in itself, a path I could walk later, and I think I will. It deserves to be brought back to life because of the edge details in this wonderful piece of dutch maple. And it simply wants to look and be looked at!
42 *A Flash in the Pan: “Something that shows great promise, but brief success is not repeated or repeatable.” Since too many months have passed since the happy occasion, it’s safe to say this gesture has
lost its momentum. However, to me, the tribute stands alone so a second chance be greatly appreciated.
43 I’m crucified, Crucified like my savior, Saintlike behavior, A lifetime I prayed I’m crucified, For the holy dimension, Godlike ascension, Heavens away I’ve seen the deepest darkness, And wrestled with gods, Ride the noble harness, Raining cats and dogs I stand before my maker, Like Moses on the hill, My guinness record baker, I abide your will The first of reciters, I saw eternal light, Best of vocal fighters, Beyond human sight Where thorns are a teaser, I’ve played a double jeux, Yherushalaim at easter, I cry I pray mon dieu I’m crucified, Crucified like my savior, Saintlike behavior, A lifetime I prayed I’m crucified, For the holy dimension, Godlike ascension, Heavens away Prophets I’ve been reading, Stories I’ve been told, Before I end my breathing, I travel in the soul Where thorns are a teaser, I’ve played a double jeux, Yherushalaim at easter, I cry I pray mon dieu.
44 This framed fridge door is specialy designed for Jeroen den Hengst, famous national guitarist and host in the legendary Hard Rock Karaoke, blown over from New York. This framed fridge door is part of the project “Tough Quotes of Famous Dutch on Framed Fridge Doors”. Jeroen den Hengst did not want to participate in this project, so I made 2 doors for him.
45 A knotted carpet. Ultra high pile. Squeezed into a glass container of 30x20x20 cm.
Once intended to be a part of a performative installation. The carpet was supposed to be clipped into a shape during the opening of the show. But as it happens, time was running out and the carpet was not finished in time. Eventually it was shown at a much less glorious event. Without touching. It has never been cut. That makes that the potential to become something is still there. Although 30x20x20 is also quite a nice size, if I may say so.
46 Thinking back of a time studying intensively with Gerrit a dedication the first steps of a virgin in the art world. A time of letting go, full of pressure growing habits like starting your day with a homemade breakfast. Full of lunatic ingredients. Sharing my very Dead Darling breakfast recipe! The ingredients are coming together as leftovers of a past shared house kitchen life! An all time favorite are ‘silk-tofu pancakes’ with a cinnamon-sugar mix, applesauce, peanut butter, hagelslag – all you can find what turns you on in the morning. For the dough you mix flour, a puff of salt and liquid; orange or apple juice, sweet ice tea or cola; add silk-tofu, then mix it smooth and ready to fry, ready to fly, ready for school
47 This work was a part of my 2010 Foam 3H exhibition, It would be so nice. At the time, this exhibition felt like the start of my photography career. It turned out to be the peak. The narrative of this series was so specific—it was an homage, an ode, an obsession, a once-in-a-lifetime infatuation with my (then) muse, Aynouk Tan. To photograph it was to collect bits and pieces
of the person I craved: it was beautiful, exhausting, self-destructive. How does one top that? I never found out.
48 Tokyo in it’s diversity always fascinates me. For me a giant that has countless faces, including the less beautiful and seemingly inhuman aspects of this city as well; especially its financial district Marunouchi. Dwelling through this area, I had a mixture of feelings between fascination and disgust. This painting depicts a small detail of one of its massive buildings, denying access by its concrete, steel and glass facade. A somber glimpse, revealing immense power. I figured that though for some this work might not be love at first sight, it needs a second gaze in order to access its obscure sensitivity.
49 The work was created in relation to ‘wild care tame neglect’ a long-term intervention at Huize Frankendael by Edward Thomson. I was invited to photograph and document the site – in my very own way – and picture especially a shed, which was built as a temporary studio. The Fifth Day #3 is photographed from within the glass house studio. It was not presented in the exhibition,since we decided to install only two photo works. This photo is a bit ‘darker’, and a bit more complex; it is as the third wheel, the extra, the ‘lost’ part, which was not missed really, but still exists. I wish to give it a second chance, on its own.
50 After my graduation from the Rietveld in 2009 and a dreadful year of working for an
architecture studio, I took a leap of faith and started my own artistic practice. I had no idea what to begin with and the fearful blank page started haunting me. As inspiration my father sent me an image from an exhibition he just visited, a medieval floor plan of an Islamic city, and I liked its inward perspective and the naivety of how buildings were drawn. I set up to work on a tapestry to keep my hands and mind busy for a while. I chose a simple technique I learned from my aunt, straight woolen stitches repeated on a thick cotton canvas, which creates textured colored surfaces. At first I was excited with combining colors of yarns and the repetitiveness of the stitching process was soothing my recurrent anxiety. But I soon realized I was making something resembling a traditional praying carpet. I grew frustrated of not choosing the right scale of detail to abstract the image and the randomness in my choice of colors. So I put my little project aside, “to finish later”. Nine years later, I do appreciate the incompleteness of the work : something discarded halfway onto the path of tradition. My father used to say I never finish what I start… pfffff, he was a little bit right.
51 My flash in the pan is lots of raw eggs placed on a yellow dish-towel. A temporary composition which didn’t last long due to perishableness. A household-accident to cheer up your day, to make you smile at the mess you come across, or make in life.
52 For months I kept with me a little print of the first image ever taken of earth from a satellite in orbit (Explorer VI, August 1959). Really, it is a diagonal white motion blur on a black background. I love to think of a
satellite as a giant camera set on an 192 hours self-timer propelled into space, failing to give us an image we can recognise. I attempted to produce an image that would resemble it. But when I developed the paper, rather than a planet one saw an island at sea. It was much closer to earth than expected. Yet the idea of creating a visual database of non-existing islands lost in the ocean fueled my endeavors. In retrospect, Explorer II is the selfless mother of many of my following works. I never gave it a proper room, although sometimes I think it was perfect, like the first image of earth.
53 No. 188 (computer-based simulated figurine) is part of an unfinished research into the simulation of cloth, inspired by the legend of Zeuxis & Parrhasius and their trompe l’oeil of a painted curtain. It was made for this year’s Unfair18 and I doubt it will ever be shown again. Thus I prefer it be in gentle hands instead of a dusty drawer. Enjoy!
54 Technologia Incognita is a hacker-space in Amsterdam. It’s a growing group of enthusiasts interested in locks, keys and ways of opening locks without keys. The Open Organisation of Lockpicking (NL) is the oldest lock-picking sports club in the world after Germany. Every two weeks a variable of members come together. I was commissioned by a publication “In order of disappearance”, so I went there and learned how to unpick a lock too.
55 Ping Pong doesn’t want to stop. A neverending game. An everlasting second
chance. Go for gold. Ping Pong is one of the results of an interactive joint production, a collaboration with a writer. An actionreaction game, creating a fictional story based on the photo and again creating a new photograph based on that text, followed up by another piece of story guided by the photograph. Which photo will be the golden shot? We don’t know…
56 Grab Your Go-Bag is a series documenting bay area residents carrying their most essential belongings in their ‘Go-Bag’, a bag you take when you have to leave everything else behind, usually in case of an upcoming catastrophe. The series was created in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential elections, in reaction to the growing worries of locals over their future life under the new regime, as part of the production of the film ‘US vs Us’ – now a broken and bankrupted project covered with the dust of destroyed dreams.
57 This work was made during days of experiments in the studio and resulted as Sculptures Economiques. This photograph is one step before the final conceptualised form. It shows the playful and magical process of experimentation. The pressure cooker in which you try to imagine something new. To me it is very free and unpretentious.
58 Almost all members are together for the first time; the living and the non-living hand in hand. Performance and sculptures are still well and alive, the photograph series of documentation is drop dead.
59 Suddenly finding myself within the remains of a long night, I couldn’t resist thinking about what has influenced the previous events to occur and what their repercussions will be. In the course of reconstructing the sacrifices of the saintly figure next to me, the martyrdom of choosing punishment over escape revealed to me. While my sorrows suddenly appeared more harmless than ever before, life has just started to earn its second chance.
60 Ah, going through the shelves and finding half-forgotten drawings. For which occasion did I frame these two small drawings? Some of the decisions I took while working on them come back to me now: one more mark here, there… They were by-products of a larger series – in which they didn’t quite fit because of their deviant formats. It’s 15 years since I made these drawings (and, my, did life hit hard during these 15 years), but they still seem fresh to me, vital enough to call me back to work.
61 This work is part of the collage series Residue. Residue is described as “a usually small amount of something that remains after a process has been completed or a thing has been removed.” Rather than the suggestion of anything being completed, it is a never-ending series, a continuous production of removals and remains. Nonetheless, this piece never quite fit into the series, it considers itself not remaining, but destined. Let’s find its destination.
62
65
A piece of paper was always used under rice paper while practicing calligraphy during a residency. It was presented as part of my working process and hung on the wall during the open studio. In time it grew on me… at the end of the residency, I decided to scan and enlarge it, giving it a second chance to shine as an artwork itself.
Contracts Between Us is a transitional series, essential for what came next. As a young work of mine, it stands in between the conceptual and the visual, graphic design and fine art: on one hand it represents exchange and value through the process of abstracting (Mexican) money bills’ designs, but ultimately it became the crucial step for pursuing a more personal exploration of forms, using drawing as main mean of expression and source of experimentation – which a couple of years later, lead me to my current practice: painting.
63 This image was made during a short meeting with a prostitute in Medellin.I do not remember whose legs these are or what the rest of the body looked like. It has something to do with the transience of one’s memory.What is in the memory, the content of memory, does not remain unchanged over the years. What role does photography play here?
64 For me, perhaps the biggest flash in the pan is drawing in general. When I was young, I was often praised for drawing. It got to the point that I can’t remember anyone ever asking me what I wanted to be when i grew up. It was simply always assumed that I would go to art school, which I did, and it was indeed drawing that got me in. But, somewhere during the first year, I started to question whether it had even been my idea to start drawing in the first place, and I eventually stopped doing it altogether. In the almost twenty years since, I think I’ve never really done anything with drawing, nor did I want to. Since a few years, I have a sketchbook again, in which I now sometimes draw. This is a page from it, and it might very well be the first and last drawing I will ever show or sell.
66 That was an emotional approach to digest news about a military conflict in a country of my origin. I made the image as a momentary gesture to fulfill my need in being involved. It wasn’t a part of any series or an artistic research. But I believe, it deserves even more attention now then it did in times when Donetsk airport was completely destroyed. Like a diary, an artist’s reflection on the political situation reminds us of something that remains in the past. It cannot be reproduced due to its irrevocable emotional content.
67 Shown once to accompany museum bombs, wild plants and fluorescent lighting in an exhibition, that was the furious end of compromises.
68 Sometimes a small gesture can mean a lot.
and these were their darlings‌
The material archive, aluminium, 2018
01
Pigment print on archival paper, 40 × 50 cm
Lenses, 2016/2017
02
C-print mounted on black board, 50 × 75 cm
Justice For Zak, 2018
03
Lamda print from digital file, 33 × 56 cm
Trident Pipe, 2017
04
Lamda print, 33 × 44 cm
A Heartbreaker Can be Heartbroken, 2017
05
Mixed media, epoxy, 460g, 12 × 8,5 cm
No Title, 2017
06
Oil on canvas, 24 × 30 cm
In the Desert, 1991
07
Acrylic and varnish on canvas, ca. 40 × 60 cm
Orange is hot, red is extreme, green is mean, yellow is advancing and purple is retiring. But all I want to talk about is blue, 2016
08
Photo mounted on aluminium, 90 × 120 cm
Balance Tricks, 2018
09
Inkjet print on Hahnemuhle paper, 35 × 46,3 cm
Halloween 1997, 2018
10
Print, 24 × 30 cm
Ordinary Straws, 2018
11
First Edition of 8, C-print, 42 × 29,7 cm
Post-it City, 2011
12
C-print (5 prints), 30 × 40 cm
European Smoketree, 2013
13
Canvas paper, pigmented ink print, 33 × 47,5 cm
Untitled, 2017
14
Riso print, 21 × 27 cm
Ecce Nates!, 2017
15
Earthenware, 30 × 30 × 5 cm
Power to the Peeple, 2015
16
Printed Film Still, A3
Potato Print, 2018
17
Paint on carpet, 50 × 60 cm
Ultramarine (total eclipse), 2018
18
Chromogenic print Kodak Endura, 40 × 50 cm
Probing a Politician, 2009
19
Ink-jet print, 30 × 45 cm
Round Table Pool #1, 2018
20
Silkscreen print, 27 × 48 cm
Flieger, 2014
21
Collage on paper, 21 × 22,5 cm
Frikandel Speciaal, 2018
22
C-type print, framed, 42 × 33,6 cm
Food Fight #6 - Rikishi, 2009
23
Aquarelle and ink, 30 × 30 cm (framed 40 × 50 cm)
After the Sirens Sung, 2017
24
C-type on Fujicolor paper, framed 60 × 80 cm
Palast der Republik, 2007
25
Monoprint (black-on-black) on paper, 300 × 100 cm
Man-made Through, 2017
26
Stained glass, metal, 39,5 × 27,5 cm
Sail, 2012
27
Digital print mounted on Aluminium, 30 × 45 cm
5X25, 2015
28
Aluminium, €5 bill, 12 × 12 cm
Plan 9, 2016
29
Photo inkjet print, 42 × 31,5 cm
Boomstronkig #2, 2015—2018
30
Wood, aluminum, acrylic paint, twine, tempera paint, paper, ca. 40 × 21 × 5 cm
Turkish Pizza, 2012
31
A5 booklet, paper, aluminum foil, size variable
Cinema #4, 2005
32
Archival pigment print on Ilford smooth pearl 280g/m2 paper, 30 × 29 cm
Production still of the short Film ‘Kissinger, the last Hurrah’ shot by Jonas Sack, 2018
33
Hanemuller Rag print, 40 × 60 cm
La morte di Lenin, 2018
34
Enamel on newsprint, 36,7 × 53,3 cm
I am Undone, 2016
35
Pencil, ink, arcylic & oil pastels, 50 × 70 cm
Tool Set 3000, 2017
36
Set of 7: bones, wood, plastic, latex, hold-in-a-hand size, 38 × 35 cm (box)
Circular Movement, 2015
37
Xerox print, 42 × 59,4 cm
Self-Portrait, 2015
38
Risograph print, 29,7 × 42 cm
Rovine Romane, 2018
39
Gouache on paper, 44 × 60 cm
Teto (and my mother), 2015
40
Woodblock print on paper, 40 × 44,5 cm
Mask #1, 2015
41
Dutch maple, diameter Âą 25 cm
4 Melanie, 2018
42
Mixed media (collage and drawing), A4
Godlike Ascension, 1998
43
Lamda print from negative, 30 × 40 cm
Harde Uitspraak Jeroen den Hengst, 1998
44
Fridge door, paint, 66 × 96 × 5 cm
High Pile? 2, 2018
45
Glass, wool, cotton, foam clay, 30 × 20 × 20 cm
A Darling’s Recipe!, 2015
46
Photo print on matt paper, 90 × 60 cm
Aynouk with Moustache, Part of ‘It Would Be So Nice’, 2009
47
Photograph on aluminium, 20 × 30 cm
Untitled, 2017
48
Acrylic, gouache, toner and shellac on MDF, 38,8 × 30 × 1,6 cm
The Fifth Day #3, 2017—2018
49
Inkjet print, mounted on foam board, 30 × 30 cm
Humdrum Hyatus, 2009—2018
50
Wool embroidered on cotton canvas, 50 × 80 cm
Eggs, 2018
51
Inkjet-print on Hahnemuhle-photorag, 40 × 52 cm
Explorer II, 2014
52
Photographic print, 158 × 108 cm
No. 188 (computer based simulated figurine) , 2017
53
Fine art print, archival ink on artificial satin, hung with clips, 73 × 54 cm
The Club’s Tools, 2018
54
Archival Inkjet print, 30 × 45 cm
Ping Pong, 2018
55
Hanemühle fine art print, 30 × 45 cm
N, 2017
56
Photographic print, 32,6 × 24,5 cm
Triangle Yellow No Pink, 2012
57
Photograph / Inkjet print, 18 × 21 cm
The Water, Soil, Jungle, 2012
58
Archival Inkjet print, 56 × 68 cm
Cause and Consequence, 2017
59
Hahnemühle, 12 × 9 cm, framed 50 × 40 cm
Coming Back, Left and Right (diptych), 2003
60
Graphite, charcoal on paper, 14,7 × 4,9 cm
Residue #10, 2015
61
White paper, paper cut-outs 21 × 28 cm
Side 边, 2018
62
Print on fabric, 80 × 100 cm
Legs, Medellin, 2015
63
B&W matte Inkjet print, 30 × 40 cm
Handheld, 2017
64
Colored pencil on acid-free paper, 18 × 25 cm
Contracts Between Us #3, 2013
65
Aquatint Etching on cotton paper, 50 × 65 cm
Donetsk Airport, 2015
66
Screenprint on paper, 100 × 70 cm
Rudiments, 2006
67
C-print unmounted, 65 × 90 cm
La morte di Lenin, 2018
68
Enamel on newsprint, 36,7 × 53,3 cm
Dead Darlings COLOPHON
Dead Darlings #10 — Flash in the Pan took place on 15 December 2018 at Hollanda TurkiyeliIsciler Birligi De Vereniging van Arbeiders uit Turkije in Nederland — Eerste Weteringplantsoen 2BII, 1017 SJ Amsterdam, NL. DD10 Team: Tania Theodorou Lina Ozerkina Hanna Mattes Jessie Yingying Gong
Special thanks goes out to everyone who submitted, participated, volunteered, helped and visited; Carolin Reichert, Joseph Miceli, Lucía Garza, Sohrab Bayat, Gabriel Maher, Kristina Mirova, Roberto Pérez Gayo, Kyle Tryhorn, Angeliki Chalkia, Müge Yilmaz, Anne-Laure Ruffin, Franziska Schulz, Charlott Markus and most of all – the artists who entrusted us with their work and made this possible.
Concept / Editing Dead Darlings team Design: Lina Ozerkina with Lucía Garza Typeface: Arial Grotesk (AlfaType Fonts) Printing / Binding: Friends Make Books, Torino Edition: 100 www.deaddarlings.nl
WWW.DEADDARLINGS.NL