Aletta de Jong

wetenschap & techniek, urban, natuur, land art, installatie, Ecologie, Documentair, Conceptueel, beeldhouwen, Artistiek onderzoek

In mijn werk als beeldend kunstenaar kijk ik naar historisch en huidige toepassingen van grondstoffen met als doel verbanden te onderzoeken tussen (stedelijk) landschap, grondstoffen en mensen. Dit resulteert in installaties waar het gaat over bijvoorbeeld de stad in relatie tot voedselproductie, of over de verzilting van het landschap. Zaken als ecologie, economie, landschap en voedsel en de toepassingen en verbanden hiertussen hebben mijn aandacht – van de grote lijnen tot iets heel specifieks als bijvoorbeeld de chemische samenstelling, geologische herkomst, en bouwkundige kwaliteiten van kalk.

The Gully (2024) - In the entrance a surface of Olivine rock has been installed. This both emphasizes and softens the transition from the natural stone-clad outdoor space of the shopping gully to the concrete interior of the store. As visitors walk over the Olivine gravel, it will slowly break up into smaller pieces. This physical weathering causes the Olivine rock to Capture small amounts of CO2 gas. This carbon compound is increasing in our atmosphere - in part due to our excessive consumerism - resulting in changes in the climate. The work The Gully does together with consumers reverses this increase by capturing CO2. Work The Gully is specially developed for the exhibition 'An Ounce of Information is Worth a Pound of Data' which took place in February 2024, in the Beurstraverse Rotterdam. Photo Credits Bas Czerwinski.
Light Filter - Installation with Lime, UV Filter, UV Lamp, Plants and coloured water. Light entering the exhibition space is partly blocked by lime applied on the window, filtered by a yellow UV filter and replaced by a UV lamp. Normally invisible light becomes an active part of the installation through the use of materials like a plastic filter, non-natural light source, and minerals.
DROOGTIJD (Drying Time) -Still - Video van Laurien Dumbar en Aletta de Jong Druipen, vegen, kijken, wachten, sporen van handelingen en omgevingsinvloeden bepalen het werk in de video DROOGTIJD. Laurien Dumbar en Aletta de Jong onderzoeken in deze video de raakvlakken in hun werk door te doen. Deze raakvlakken zijn onder andere het werken vanuit materiaal, vaak klei, in een steeds veranderende toestand. Van vloeibaar maken, naar laten drogen, en kijken naar hoe het materiaal zich gedraagt.
Niche Dak Zuidplein (winkelcentrum), Rotterdam - The roof of this shopping centre (Zuidplein, Rotterdam) is an inhospitable area. The work Niche consists of circles made of clay, lime and olivijn sand. The circles are applied directly onto the bitumen roof. Slowly, these minerals will dissolve due to rain, sun and wind. What remains on the roof will become a Niche, a place where lichen, mosses or plants – that like the same conditions – will start to flourish.
Landscape - On a brickstone wall I applied a surface with white lime. This rectangle has the ratio 16:9, a classic size ratio that is used in cinema. This dimensional ratio roughly corresponds to what the human eye can cover. It is a horizontal plane - a format often referred to as ‘Landscape’ - this is also the title of the work. But in this case the landscape lies precisely around the image: the garden in which the surface is placed. The applied work will change in the course of time due to environmental factors. The work will slowly dissolve due to weather conditions. Perhaps the garden will be warmed up just a little more by the reflecting sunlight; and when the lime runs into the ground the acidity of the soil will partly change. The work perishes in the garden, and the experience of the garden changed by the work. Commission for Tuin in Tijd (Garden in Time) for The Orange Tree (outdoor exhibition space) - 2020.
Distillery &#8211 - Location De Schelphoek, Serooskerke 2018 An distillery processing salt water from the sea into fresh water. A one day installation at the dutch coast for the finnisage of the Long year project ‘Balance between Salt and Fresh Water’ 2014-2018
SEAWEED - Printroom 2018. The content for this NETbook was generated by a collaborative investigation into seaweed as a means to engage with the surrounding landscape, where landscape is understood as the current and potential interaction between people and their environment. In the summer of 2017, a group of people - who want to find out more how things work through doing - went into my studio with the seaweed we had collected on the North-Sea coast of the Netherlands. The results of our research is presented in this collaborative publication. NETbook is a series of publications initiated by X Marks the Bökship and PrintRoom?.
Hop - Cillerhoek, Rotterdam - 2016 The Cillerhoek courtyard garden gives local residents a valuable green view, provides a lung for the city, and aids local water absorption. The work ‘Hop’ accentuates these qualities. Along a construction of growing guides, hop plants extend from the garden up to the overlooking apartments, thus creating symbolic connections between the residents and the city oasis and urban agriculture below.
Drug Store - Bewaerschole, Burgh Haamstede 2015. An installation with materials sourced from the surrounding landscape of Zeeland, .The Netherlands. The emphasis is mainly on the application of algae and seaweed as a versatile material for traditional and innovative application in food, paint, energy.
Green Light - Bare House Project, Art Museum Pori, Finland - 2010. A sculptural proposal in which reclaimed window frames are stacked together around a city street lamp to suggest a greenhouse structure. In doing so, nocturnal urban light – sometimes considered as light pollution – is utilised as a proposition for food production.

Niche (2023)

Locatie: Op het dak van het Zuidplein
In samenwerking met: Bovenop Zuid

Het dak van dit winkelcentrum (Zuidplein, Rotterdam) is een onherbergzaam gebied. Het werk Niche bestaat uit cirkels gemaakt met mineralen zoals klei, kalk en zout. De cirkels zijn direct op het bitumen dak aangebracht.

Langzaam zullen deze mineralen oplossen door regen, zon en wind. Wat overblijft op het dak wordt een Niche, een plek waar korstmossen, mossen of planten - die van dezelfde omstandigheden houden - zullen gaan groeien.

Deze kunstenaar heeft nog geen toekenningen.