The continuously expanding space...   (The top level) Installation on 3 levels in an old archival building, The Hague, 1999. A collaboration between Jacqueline Wassen, Gaudi Hoedaya, Sen McGlinn and Sonja van Kerkhoff.

Our installation began at the top level of an old archival building. A text, set into the frieze-pattern about 3 metres up the wall, encircled the perimeter of the space.

This text: De zich onophoudelijk uitbreidende ruimte, ontstaat door de ervaring zichzelf waargenomen te hebben. (The continuously expanding space generated by the experience of having perceived onself.) created a horizontal line around the space. The words and letters were broken up to fit onto the blocks in the wall.

The frieze text served as a starting-point -the tangible word- and as a point of departure. The text was broken in to individual letters, with images between some - reflecting various aspects of our worlds: like windows of the here and now as much as the remembered and the imagined. These images also literally stretched out the words to form a continuous loop.

Detail of the frieze: The word "zich" (yourself/oneself) is interrupted by the image (by Jacqueline) shown on the right. Jacquline´s images were of herself as a child relocated in evocative spaces. They suggested dream-worlds of the past -like openings for alternative routes of thought between the texts.

Three photo-montages inserted between the letters by Jacqueline. Sonja´s images were of her children engaged in ´natural-cum-artifical´ acts. The combinations of sensuality and oddity were immediate and close. The world today. The detail, recognized as such implies more.

Three photo-montages inserted between the letters by Sonja. Gaudi´s images were of his own and extended family. The living and dead, remembered.

Detail of the freize with photo-montages (by Gaudi) inserted between the letters.

Two large mirrors on opposite sides of the space created an illusionary infinitely reflected space.

In this grid-like space we wanted to create a sense of a psychological space that not only bridged the cut-up spaces of this remarkable building but also related to our essentially transcendent natures. The mirrors opened up the spaces within/beyond us like an extra dimension.

Sen wanted mirrors at this level to push out the space and in combination with the text and images, to create a sense of self-awareness developed from reflection, memory and the spirit. The illusionary spaces were more than just a trompe l'oeil (trick of the eye), they created a sense of changing dimensions that went beyond the material.

The continuously expanding space... , installation on three floors in an old archive. Grains of salt: video projection (on the third floor) Dier Me: slide projection (on the third floor, opposite) Big Ones & Small Ones: window image (on the third floor), and small images (on the second floor). Order the book: link to a page about this artist book. Order/View the postcard: link to a page about this postcard.

the medium

c.v. last things first