An art in water
Conceptual art, humor and water. This is the equation that the Dutch Artist Aldo Kroese presents in Nicosia.
Our water shortage, in comparison to wet Holland, is the starting point of Aldo Kroese’s research. The Dutch artist found himself in Cyprus for an artist-in-residence programme and found this part of Cyprus’ reality surreal. Referring to archives, he secured photographs from periods of time when the dams around the island where full. Then, he photographed the present situation of the empty dams. The comparison of the past to the future was the starting point of research for his work. The result of his residence in thirsty Cyprus was the production of a series of contemporary conceptual sculptures that narrate stories about water in an exhibition entitled “Definite Events”. “In conceptual art, objects hold more than what the eye sees. I want to project different layers in the works that I create”.
His sculptures are a substance of compositions of objects; put together in a way that implies a narration to the viewer, for example his piece entitled “Chair (balance)” where he brings an old rocking chair back to life with a waterflow. A different narration takes place with the installation set within the gallery space that hosted him, which, connected with the air conditioning system, managed to create moving waves. And since the artist’s sculptures are not made from marble, but other conventional materials, the question raised from the subversive character of the artist’s work is indeed it constitutes art. And therefore, «what is art?” a question which is justified, admits Kroese. “Art can be many things. It is an idea of _ wider understanding, which no one can absolutely determine. Anyone can familiarize with the role of the artist” he says, under meaning that real artists are few. Art, in any case, has to imprint the stamp of a human creation. “For any action to be categorized within the parameters of art, it has to be done intentionally. Nature is full of beautiful things that one could characterize as works of art. They are not however, works of art”.
Can one wear the tap?
With humoristic pretexts and within the parameters of conceptual art he made a collection of jewelry, using objects that are correlated to water in our daily life, such as pieces from taps and rubbers. The jewelry collection is titled “Flow Control” with its logo being written in a graffiti style. The jewelry he makes, he also wears and walks in the streets, attracting the attention of passing by people. «Here, anyone can see clearly the different layers of narration in art. On the one hand, the subjective dimension of personal aesthetics and the humoristic aspects. On another hand, the sever problems that arise in our daily life due to the shortage of water”. With this finding, he starts to enumerate the political aspects of the water problem and what he has experienced during the months of residence on the island. He concisely refers to the situation which prevailed during the summer months, with the containers of water arriving from Greece, the pipeline which is being built on the northern side of the island towards turkey and on another hand, the thoughtless use of water by some locals who act as though «there is no tomorrow”. At the same time, in his homeland heavy rainfalls are being noted, the rivers are over flowing and the sea level is rising to a point that it is chocking the coastal areas. This contradiction was a point of reference in his work. "I felt like a water boy in the desert".
Article in Kathimerini Newspaper – K Magazine, 1st of February 2009, Nicosia, Cyprus
By Maria Efstathiou
Translation: Melissa Hekkers
"In his works, Kroese focuses on the trasition process/movement between stages. He observes and collects information that usually remains unnoticed to the common eye and relates this to an autobiographical reference. Kroese visualizes the timeframe of the movement from one stage to another, physically and metaphorically. This quality is also be echoed in the form of his work, being temporary installations, interventions and sculptures. In this way an ephemeral movement turns into monumental action".
Antonis Pittas, artist and teacher
"Aldo's starting point is the basis, himself. He makes his works following his curiosity and fascination. Works that open up the mind of the viewer, one needs to experience. (....) Science, time and movement are some of the themes he works with. This results in short (documentational) video's and sculptural works.
Harry Heyink, artist, curator and teacher.