A man with a plan
February 4 – March 20 2011
MU Eindhoven, The Netherlands
www.mu.nl
A man with a plan is Fons Schiedon’s first institutional solo exhibition in the Netherlands. It’s an elaborate presentation of experiments that explore the unreliability of representation. In one work, we see 8mm footage of two children and their parents (Fons himself and his family). The footage was shot during a 1982 summer vacation in Holland and portrays a family bike trip. The footage has been altered: some changes hardly noticable, others more apparent. A Hollywood sign in the hills in the background by the lake? Maybe. Two kids running for explosions? Unlikely. The McDonalds caps they wear? That one could be real actually – was there a McDonalds in Holland in 1982? Questionable to say the least. The piece is called Falsified childhood memories .
Another work shows a man reading a letter, the contents of which clearly make him feel sad. A tear rolls down his face as he struggles along through the letter, contemplating whatever it says. More tears follow. More tears follow. More tears follow. Really, a lot of tears follow. And it just won’t stop. He cries a river like he’s a Charles Schulz comic character, and it doesn’t seem to be that much of a surprise to him. He feels that sad.
Gallery visitors are watching the piece, laughing. Funny, this sad man. Funny sad man.
The piece is called Crying man.
In the middle of the space is a large installation that shows a simulated living room with two black holes in the wall. Black holes, like the ones that swallow galaxies. The socks on the drying rack are fiercely hanging on to their clothespins to avoid being reduced to absolutely nothing.
Absolutely nothing we can see, that is.
Schiedon comments on a world view that is only partly shaped by personal experiences. What is at least as important as “reality” are images and interpretations of reality (second-, third hand), which – if possible – touch us even more deeply and surround us even more compellingly. Life built up out of storylines that we construct on the basis of storylines constructed by others.
A man with a plan
February 4 – March 20 2011
MU Eindhoven, The Netherlands
www.mu.nl
