13849
Plenum
installation view / concrete, ceramics, steel, ceiling tiles, hydro granules, wood, magnets
duo show with Rein Verhoef at Billytown, Den Haag
(sculptures by Verhoef:
Untitled (glass holder), Untitled (pipe holder), My lady stone, Doorstopper, Rats;
sculptures by Reckman:
Vestigium, Pavilion 1, Pavilion 3;collaborative sculptures:
Wall 1-3, Planters, Forever 22)
photography: Jhoeko
"Plenum" is the technical term
for the space above a dropped ceiling or under a raised floor; space used for
the air circulation of heating and air conditioning systems. In more general
terms, these spaces symbolise the functional structures of offices, homes and
exhibition spaces that remain out of sight. Working around this architectural
condition, the works of Iede Reckman and Rein Verhoef assembled in this
exhibition reference or directly present the colour, provenance or usage of
elements that are typically imperceptible, obscured or discarded. These
interventions turn the ambient world of infrastructure inside out. What was
previously invisible now becomes an object on display.
Verhoef's work bears the imprint of the
functional logic inherent to architectural settings, such as storage spaces.
For instance, the horizontal steel pillar has the inclination to support a
sewer pipe and the concrete pedestal is constructed to be lifted with a pallet
jack. The structure supports the superposed frameworks of a glass cart, itself
another carrier. For Reckman, it is rather the process
of creation of the work that is informed by what is out of sight.
Vestigium is made from recycled clay and
the greenish grey patina of the
Pavilions
sculptures are the result of dipping the works in a basin
of months of leftover ceramic glaze. Their collaborative installation
points towards non-aesthetic functional situations. The form and texture of
repurposed ceiling tiles (measuring exactly 1/3rd of the 90x90cm of Billytown's
ceiling raster) are accentuated by pulling them out of their usual context as
cladding material.
The act of foregrounding unspectacular
functional elements is extended to the support structures of the exhibition
itself. Reckman and Verhoef aim to examine the surrounding elements and framing
devices of sculpture. Their undertaking has resulted in the construction of
pavilion-like concrete walls which are loaded with sculptural meaning, blurring
the distinction between sculpture and scenography. While the pavilion is
traditionally an architectural device highlighting the effect of the sculpture
it houses, its purpose here fluctuates with every change of angle and turn of a
corner. The role of the pavilion here remains unstable (unlike a Dan Graham
approach, through which the pavilion itself becomes the primary object of
display). The concrete support structures can be considered expressive forces
on their own, at the same time they continue to serve the sculptures they
encompass.
While the sculptures take up the codes of
functionality, the concrete walls of the backdrop play with the possibilities
of autonomy as sculptural elements. Conversely, as the sculptures adopt the
functional language of elements and processes that usually remain unseen, the
function of display is also challenged, rendering both enigmatic.
Laurens Otto
