Blijf ver bij me vandaan omdat het zich anders verspreidt, en de koorts je ziel doorklijft

Cornelia Herfurtner and John MacLean, who are about to graduate from the University of the Arts Berlin (UdK), share an interest in non-professional ways of expression, oftentimes confronting the viewer with a seemingly personal, distressing truth. Blurry, multi-layered metaphors, which circulate as strong impulses, generating drives as well as compulsions, serve as points of reference for their engagement. The show Blijf ver bij me vandaan- omdat het zich anders verspreidt, en de koorts je ziel doorklijft encompasses a selection of works (sculpture, video, photography, sound and a song on the radio) grouped around the desire/urge to ‘burn’.

Being on fire widely prevails as an imperative to live with true and pervasive intensity. A helpless, unreflected adoption of such a cultural cliché can function as a powerful twist in that it undercuts commonplace thought, when blatantly aberrating from the latter as a singular, clumsy expression.

The exhibition tries to look into this with solidified depictions of fire, a rod tipping a hung object, a mash up of quotations and lyrics, a plate tilting over into an image and back.

The artists would like to thank W139 and Susan Kooi in particular for their support.