Saskia Noor van Imhoff and Arnout Meijer investigate the genesis of a series of pewter ornaments. In this exceptional collaboration, they query the definition of the ‘thing’. When does an item become an object? How do we experience the various stages? And what status and value do we assign to these perspectives? The transparent drawers function as a collection of data, in which the definition of the ‘thing’ becomes visible in an associative manner. The cross-sections present a historical document of the item, just like the layers of the earth.

Van Imhoff’s installations combine everyday objects, replicas and artworks, without hierarchy. Methods of conservation, research, classification and presentation also form part of her work. For Meijer, the illusionary perception of light is a metaphor for how we perceive our world. Both the images on our retinas and the images we are presented by media distort what we see. The two approaches come together in the installation, and they reinforce each other.

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The project Second Spade is a close collaboration between Arnout Meijer and Saskia Noor van Imhoff.
www.saskianoorvanimhoff.com

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All photography: Gert Jan van Rooij

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