PANDORA et PRIMAVERA
Tschumi Pavilion
Groningen
2014
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Five objects of our daily life are hanging in Tschumi’s glass pavilion, slowly turning with different speeds to the left or right, projecting with a strong light source pictograms on the surrounding square, multiplied by many times through the reflections on the glass wall of the pavilion. The passer by gets to see a rich impression of turning objects and moving lights, which constantly mix and communicate with each other and the surounding.
Three of the turning objects address benefits of modern civilisation, commodities that are natural to us, like a washing machine, a suitcase or a TV. Two of the objects turning in the other direction, are addressing issues that depict the dark side of the civilian progress, like a waste bin, an oil barrel or an ammunition box.
In this way the floating objects address a wide range of important issues of society: comfort, cleanliness and perfection (washing machine); travel and leisure industry (suit case); the power of media (TV); environmental pollution and waste production (garbage bin); oil, chemical and financial industry (oil barrel); warfare and military conflicts (ammunition case).
All objects radiate through a strong light source inside and cut outs in the surface a world of pictograms addressing even more important issues of our daily life. But unexpectedly the "positive" associated objects do not radiate more commodities, vica versa the "negative" associated objects do not radiate more problems. In the installation for the Tschumi pavilion it is just the other way round.
Both concerns are linked to each other like the two sides of a coin. You can’t have the one without the other, at least in the actual political situation. A hundred years ago during the industrial revolution these conflicts happened in front of the door.
In the globalized world the conflicts are out of sight and torn apart. Now polluted rivers and exploited workers are found in the third world, and the areas of wrecked nature are scattered around the globe, while our regions are renatured.
In the end the cornucopia of PRIMAVERA might be the same as the tin can of PANDORA.
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See also the following realized projects
on which "PANDORA et PRIMAVERA"
is based: