Art Office

Chants in stadiums are a spatial phenomenon. The way in which one voice starts, what is taken over and goes through the space, is a spatial movement that Jan Adriaans would like to convert into a sound artwork that encloses the visitor. Working with sound is new to him, but the underlying social theme is in line with his earlier work on group formation and identity: “In my opinion, identities are artificial, posited from a compulsive Self, because the free individual does not really exist.” In art much attention is paid to identity, but with this work Adriaans would like to approach identity not purely from a culture point of view, but mainly from the behavioral mechanisms that can also be found in other animal species. The result of Swarming Chants, on group behaviour, was to be included by curator Kris Dittel in an exhibition in V2_ on post-humanist philosophy.

Adriaans began his artistry with photography, after studying in that direction at St. Joost and Post St. Joost. He exhibited at platforms such as Nest, TENT and foreign venues and festivals. Gradually he broadened his work with video, performative work and text. Through these avenues he reflects on human behavior – patterns of power, authority and cultural patterns such as sport within capitalist structures. In 2017 he obtained his master's degree at the Dutch Art Institute and further studies in post-humanism and artificial intelligence, an intelligence with which he also wanted to analyze the choirs in Swarming Chants. The R&D committee thought it was an interesting set-up, also because of the international collaborations it entails.

Adriaans thus started a process to make recordings - technically more complex than planned - at football matches in Poland, Rotterdam and France. Thanks in part to instructive collaborations, it has been technically accomplished. He translated the recordings into an audiovisual work, which was shown at TENT and V2_ during the Post Opera exhibition. In addition, it developed some offshoots: for example, he designed performances that became part of the work. “It is a work on which I can still reflect a lot, and which will generate new ideas for work.”