Jeroen Arians

fotografie - installatie - conceptueel - sociaal-maatschappelijk - omgeving

My photography depicts realistic situations that hold a certain theatricality. I am intrigued by the unexpected extraordinarity of everyday settings, which can be surrealistic, poetic or outright puzzling. I compose the photographic registrations of these settings according to my aesthetic beliefs, carefully choosing my frame and light to heighten the surrealism of the situation.

Generally, I start a project by documenting a specific area. I collect images or objects from an environment or situation and use them as the foundation for my work. The collected images become photographic registrations once I’ve adjusted the frame and the light. I use the found objects in balancing acts or installations, which I then take photos of.


#Streetlogic - In our strictly organized surroundings, the street belongs to everyone and no one. In this series #Streetlogic, I register how the everyday objects people leave behind reclaim public space. Unintentionally, these people create temporary spectacles of perfect beauty. Sometimes unreal, absurd, and even outright funny, the spectacles end once the objects are disposed of by waste collectors or given new life by interested strangers.
What if the orange tree falls apart - In my opinion, Oranienbaum meets all the clichés I had about a former DDR village. Oranienbaum looks desolated with abandoned buildings and industrial areas The streets look abandoned, all youth has fled elsewhere. The current situation must be in such contrast with the great expectations right after Die Wende. It seems that Oranienbaum wasn’t able to find its new identity during this transition phase. During my residency in Oranienbaum, I translated these impressions by bringing time, light, space and object together into a balancing act - fragile installations and eventually photographs. I searched for items/objects and spaces/locations that had daily functionality, waiting tobe used again. All compositions were staged and controlled to the smallest detail: space, composition and lights.
Pillows
The Observatory Legacy of Jeroen Arians - After street photographer Garry Winogrand died, approximately 432,000 photos were found which had never been seen by the man himself. This intrigued me: who decides on my photographic legacy? And: are all photos equally important after they were taken? Whenever I go out, I carry a camera, helps me document interesting settings and locations. Once a film is full, I don't necessarily develop it, thinking I've already seen it. Is there any value in seeing it again? These films are shelved, waiting to be found or lost forever. Every time I come across one, I think about the death of Garry Winogrand and his undeveloped films. What should I do with mine? I offer these undeveloped films for others to buy, thus transferring all rights and responsibilities about their destination.
Swim - For children the ability to swim increases their chance of survival. For people in rehabilitation swimming is a method that has a positive influence on their body. For that purpose it is common to use special swimming tools. Once the equipment is not used and left behind alongside the pool, they become peculiar devices in its own environment. They transform from something banal into something theatrical. By making them part of installations I emphasized their alienating character.
Closing the Curtains - The transition period of being used and being dismantled is probably the most fragile moment of a building. It easily can be occupied by squatters or stripped by copper-/ iron thieves. Although the Dutch government made it illegal to squatter, building owners take precautions. When a building is waiting for it’s demolition, the owner will make it unattractive for thieves and squatters to enter. There are special companies, who will take out all usable interior, and trash the place so it will be uninhabitable. Just before the arrival of these companies that will trash the place, I took down the curtains, what seems like the last bit of interior identity, and I replaced them in there own environment.
The Boxes - Whether a box is being used for moving, shipping or storing, the contents give it significant value. Each box in the associated form of use has its own history, journey and story. In this series, the boxes are being assigned to a new monument, in which its former content doesn’t carry any value anymore. The Boxes are allowed to be presented autonomously.
FAST FOOD - The donation of food for cats turns out to become a delicious snack for snails. I was looking down at the streets for weeks before I noticed it. Someone in my neighborhood loves cats. The consequences of our inner Mother Teresa are doorsteps tread, become my favorite moment of the day.