My work draws upon historical and cultural research, focusing on Eastern philosophies. I intervene in landscapes and cityscapes, using (artificial) nature as a ‘stage’ to construct a contemporary story. An interplay between imagination and reality emerges, often composed of self-made artefacts, ready-made objects and human characters. These tableaux are staged as performances and captured in photography and film.
Sen no Rikyu (Zen- and Tea Master 1522–1591) teaches that wild flowers growing in nature are truly beautiful and precious, but that the flowers for Tea are meaningful only when their individual beauty is successfully captured and expressed in an arrangement. As in Ikebana (Japanese flower arrangement), I create detailed staged scenes in which people, objects and their surroundings are carefully balanced and arranged.
Wandering Flock: A Bodily Experience in Unison
This is a registration of a group students in Japan that performed and experienced the Wandering Flock. With the Wandering Flock I have developed a method where -through a bodily experience- internal and external senses are being addressed on a personal and collective level within a group of participants. The movements of flocking starlings inspired me to create the exercise. The goal of the Wandering Flock is to conduct a moment of collective flow.