BEPERKT HOUDBAAR
perishable

1995

video installation

The sound of clearly audible respiration drifts through the room. The observer discovers a glass cabinet attached to the wall. Sixteen small glass bottles filled with fluid are arranged in two rows, one above the other. Video projections into the content of the bottles display the faces of 16 different people.

“Perishable” the English translation of the title, reveals the fragility of this almost mystical work by the dutch artist Jaap de Jonge, in several ways. Reminiscent of a medical experiment, to preserve human souls, which may some day be released, the 16 bottles were apparently removed from the dissection room of a secret laboratory to be temorarily observed in the lab showcase. They all display the same contents: The heads of 16 different people. The tiny movements clearly show signs of life. The gasping breathing could be stopped by opening the bottles, but what happens when air hits the contens? The desire to mummify the mind and the body of man beyond death cannot be fullfilled. As the title suggest: everything is perishable.

videodocumentation

metal construction with 16 botlles, mirrors,
2 video projectors


http://www.transmediale.de/97/deutsch/
installation.htm

 

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close up face in bottle