Annegien van Doorn

Overlook

An inflatable mattress, a brush and a tube of ketchup do not have a logical nor natural relation. Although we all have them laying around at home, few people besides MacGuyver would attempt combining them. But it is the people who would in particular, who are addressed in the 1938 study Homo Ludens. As Johan Huizinga describes, play is one of the main conditions necessary to generate culture.

Annegien van Doorn works with whatever is available. Situations she encounters form the basis of her works, whether that is a tangle of cords under a desk, two water bottles that spontaneously break into a dance on top of a spinning washing machine or a wigwam built of breadsticks. In her films and photographs those domestic goods, often considered virtually worthless, possess qualities easy overlooked. But when used in large amounts, these trivial objects suddenly seem to pay tribute to imagination. It is the unintended functions that add the greatest value to these objects, and that’s precisely what Annegien van Doorn looks for.

Bas Hendrikx