{"id":3743,"date":"2021-04-30T09:10:12","date_gmt":"2021-04-30T07:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/airbrabant.nl\/?p=3743"},"modified":"2021-04-30T09:10:13","modified_gmt":"2021-04-30T07:10:13","slug":"wessel-verrijt-in-conversation-with-hannah-kalverda","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/airbrabant.nl\/en\/wessel-verrijt-in-conversation-with-hannah-kalverda\/","title":{"rendered":"Wessel Verrijt in conversation with Hannah Kalverda"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u2018A resident artist is a maker who\u2019s temporarily relating to another place,\u2019 Verrijt says, as he begins talking about his residency at United Cowboys \u2014 an art house and dance performance company.\u00a0<\/strong><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He wants to connect this interview with what is happening within the four walls of the Art House. We\u2019re sitting on small wooden bleachers in a two-storied, square space that is lit by overhead theatre spotlights. I\u2019m seated directly under these spotlights when I\u2019m offered a cup of tea. From our bleacher vantage point, we\u2019re looking out onto a dark theatre floor with forms <\/strong>that stretch several metres high. Owing to their physicality and materiality,<\/strong> as well as the inspiration with which Verrijt talks about them, <\/strong>the objects soon constitute the audience for our conversation. Some are as tall as the space itself; others are short and compact. These figures are made of building materials, wooden sticks, cardboard and pieces of foam. Colourful fragments of canvas give off an impression of sailing masts, but also of ritualistic objects. To better understand Verrijt\u2019s relationship to these sculptures, I ask if they have a name.                  \u2018They do not have a name because I begin from a kind of liminal space. If they were named, they would become a singular thing, imbued with a history. That would obstruct their openness; the very thing I find so intriguing. It\u2019s up to you to fill in the blanks,\u2019 muses Verrijt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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filmstill Wessel Verrijt<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The objects before us are both artworks as well as subjects of the films that Verrijt is showing. He alternately refers to these objects as sculptures, architectonic vehicles, characters and entities. They are also collages of discarded materials that were sourced in Eindhoven. On Friday a city car will come to pick up the cardboard, so Verrijt does a last round before it\u2019s hauled away. The sailcloth, sticks, styrofoam, wood and steel will all take on another life in Verrijt\u2019s studio.\u00a0\u00a0\u2018Collecting and bringing materials together creates an ecosystem of items that would otherwise be overlooked. What\u2019s more, these materials say something about the surroundings,<\/strong>\u2019 remarks Verrijt. Across the bleachers, colourful sketches lie scattered of various sculptures that may or may not be present in their full form. \u2018I sometimes draw them ten times,\u2019 notes Verrijt. He sketches the sculptures to forge a relationship between the different entities; his way of trying to internalise their form and function.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Verrijt, however, continues to work on his sculptures; constructing new components and breaking off others. Some components remain, others fall away. No two performances are alike, and no form is sacred. This interplay of construction and deconstruction illustrates his emphasis on the fluid nature of his sculptures. Verrijt creates an organic collective that \u2014both in the literal and figurative sense \u2014 is in constant motion. He points to the underside of his sculptures. Their mobility is not merely conceptual, it\u2019s also literal. Each figure is mounted on wheels and can be manned for operation. ‘They\u2019re also costumes\u2019 divulges Verrijt. But these costumes are far from comfortable and their wearability is limited. Comfort is not the goal, however, and these constraints produce exciting effects. \u2018These are costumes for an impossible dance,\u2019 observes Verrijt. With this dance, Verrijt does not want to draw you into a story, but rather to disorient you. Here, disorientation is a critical force that exposes the patterns of a ritual. In this case, a performance ritual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not purely the work that matters; the audience, space, time and context are also important.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Verrijt\u2019s artistic springboards are the ideas and principles of scenography, but he always moves away from the frameworks associated with stage craft. Verrijt builds the figures, sets and props, all of which he views as an immersive installation. Not only are his figures protagonists in a storyline, they\u2019re also secondary characters in installations that interrogate theatricality. Verrijt clarifies, \u2018It\u2019s not purely the work that matters; the audience, space, time and context are also important.\u2019 As an example, he mentions the bleachers on which we\u2019re perched. According to Verrijt, \u2018The bleachers are an orientative element that confer a certain role to the audience. A role that I want to undermine.\u2019 Verrijt wants to explore these orientative frameworks throughout the course of his residency. \u2018That\u2019s why I\u2019m so inspired to work for three months at United Cowboys in an actual theatre and performance space,\u2019 he offers up, \u2018Here, I have the entire theatre floor and the balconies, lights and sound at my disposal. I also have the opportunity to discuss my work with United Cowboys\u2019 artistic directors: Maarten van der Put (concept, direction, design) and Pauline Roelants (choreographer).\u2019 United Cowboys has a rich tradition of stretching theatrical and performative conventions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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filmstill Wessel Verrijt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Beyond indoor shows, his motley crew of mobile sculptures also take to the streets. Verrijt organises performances in public spaces. This itinerant band of unusual figures is sometimes likened to a funfair that roams from place to place. It reminds me of the \u2018Carnivalesque\u2019.  A concept which, due to Russian literary theorist Mikhail Bakhtin, gained significance <\/strong>as a literary mode that had a subversive, liberating function. Exaggeration, for instance, is employed to lampoon opposites like good and evil, rich and poor.  As the term implies, the cultural function of carnival is hidden within it. More than just popular entertainment, carnival parades were a way to mock the feudal and religious elite in order to address the established order.<\/strong> Verrijt\u2019s mobile sculptures fulfil a similar function within the historically Catholic environment of Eindhoven. As for which contemporary societal frameworks are being addressed, Verrijt leaves that open to interpretation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What struck me most was that, through the films, the figures elicit an affective response. The sculptures move and suggest everyday behaviour, rituals, emotions and interactions. The films portray a spectacle in which bodily excesses, egos and turmoil are magnified. \u2018Film has the potential not only to document and archive, but also to manipulate,\u2019 cautions Verrijt. Each entity receives its own role within these obstacles and possibilities. While we\u2019re admiring the sculptural elements of the entities in the space, Verrijt uses his films to play with the narrative and affective aspects of theatre. In Verrijt\u2019s installations, members of the public literally stand next to the sculptures, but they\u2019re also spectators to their affect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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filmstill Wessel Verrijt<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

United Cowboys<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the heart of Eindhoven\u2019s city centre lies the Art House, the work space of the art collective United Cowboys. The building provides space to artists for meetings, research and presentations. In the span of a few years, the Art House has grown into an international platform whose explicitly interdisciplinary approach, like the artwork of United Cowboys itself, operates at the interface of dance, performance and visual culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wessel Verrijt will make a digital presentation to conclude this residency period, which will be shown from the beginning of May. On 27, 28, 29 and 30 April and 1, 2 and 3 May, there is the opportunity to pay a professional studio visit, individually or in pairs, and see the results of the residency. During these visits, we carefully observe the Covid rules. You can register via wesselverrijt@gmail.com<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Author: Hannah Kalverda<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018A resident artist is a maker who\u2019s temporarily relating to another place,\u2019 Verrijt says, as he begins talking about his residency at United Cowboys \u2014 an art house and dance performance company.\u00a0 He wants to connect this interview with what is happening within the four walls of the Art House. We\u2019re sitting on small wooden […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3738,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[29],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/airbrabant.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3743"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/airbrabant.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/airbrabant.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airbrabant.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airbrabant.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3743"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/airbrabant.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3750,"href":"https:\/\/airbrabant.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3743\/revisions\/3750"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airbrabant.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/airbrabant.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airbrabant.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/airbrabant.nl\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}