2008

A 20th century interrogation room is the point of departure: a table, two chairs, and one brightly burning, naked light bulb hanging from the ceiling. This direct reference to interrogation practices and torture techniques used throughout history juxtaposes the status of our leading western culture in the area of human civil rights with the special interests behind today’s war on terrorism.

Interrogations is a series of sculptural installations which explore how even banal everyday objects can be subjected to intense observation, scrutiny, prodding and questioning in relation to their recent activities and their reason for being in general. Light is shed on how these objects manage to survive these “interrogations” and still fulfill their functions after being abused, confused and humiliated, possibly even tortured, having run the risk of losing their identity and dignity.

The installations consist of a light bulb and electrical cable (the interrogator), electricity (the differentiator between light and dark) and the object or scenario to be investigated, which consist primarily of wooden furniture, an occasional rock, and a Dutch fire extinguisher that accidentally got in the way.

As one ascends the spaces in the gallery, the installations develop and interrelate in a progressive manner reflecting phenomenological primal origins in the entry space, infancy on the landing, adolescence and some semblance of maturing and preparation for the endgame upstairs.

The installations interact with the site in which they are placed through their physical presence and through the one or more physical connections of the electrical cable to an actual power source. In this way the interrogations as a whole begin to reveal not only aspects about the subjects/victims and their places in life, but will also give you, the viewer, the chance to ask who the perpetrators, the interrogators might be.

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