SOON
at Temporary Art Center (TAC) Eindhoven, NL
The solo exhibition SOON brings together both new and existing works by Emma van der Put. The various films and illuminated prints in the exhibition are part of a long-term project that started with the video ‘WTC’ (2016) for which Van der Put chose one of the World Trade Center towers in the business district of Brussels as a great vantage point from which to observe the area during the time span of half a year. The following years she has been looking into different area’s of the city that have been part of big (utopian) development plans in the past and are awaiting a new purpose. The Brussels of the future is explicitly depicted in the digital architectural sketches that are presented on site. What do these images tell us about our present-day wishes for the future and our dealings with the past?
By digitally enhancing and scanning photos she took at these locations, Van der Put is tracking the traces of historical and contemporary ideas about urban development, (technological) progress and globalization in her cinematic slideshows. In context of the global pandemic, the question of how to engage with the future has been refocused in the past year. This created the starting point for Van der Put’s new film and photographic works. Wandering through the city in lockdown, she noticed how strongly public space is dominated by compelling commandments, fulfilled wishes and a ruthless urge for endless growth. The works in exhibition SOON reflect on how the desired future of the city is visualized and resonate at the same time with the process of transformation that the building of TAC and it’s environment is facing the coming period.
With the generous support of TAC, the Mondriaan Fund and Cultuur Eindhoven.
(Photos: Marcel de Buck)
Reviews:
Rob Schoonen, ED, 'Filmbeelden van Emma van der Put verwonderen'
