Belonging with belongings – in dialogue with everyday encounters
MA. Graduation Project
INSIDE Department
Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten
Exhibited at Dutch Design Week class of 2023
As MA. graduation, this spatial research-project is a search for connections to the things that surround us on a daily basis. Dealing with the increasing loss of affection towards objects due to the (over) consumption of goods it is asking: How can we shift from consumption to connection? How can we build relationships with ‚the other,’ finding a sense of belonging within?
The project focusses on the nearly invisible part: memories and stories hidden within objects. These stories make certain things more important to us than others, carrying memories of past encounters, people and places within.
Rejecting the Anthropocentric ways of thinking, the project dives into the world of things. With a method called „everyday archaeology“, the belongings of countless people were discovered, their stories captured and collected not only with words, but by taking imprints, bringing them along. Casting them in plaster, they turned into 'blocks of memory': abstract replica, 3-dimensional shadows of their originals. In-between knowing and not knowing what they once were, they turn into something that can be consciously encountered by others.
Throughout the year, the 'blocks of memory' turned into a spatial installation that invites people into a dialogue; with the pieces they discover, other people and their own thoughts on 'belonging with belongings'.
The installation is accompanied by a sound piece, and a catalogue. It captures several moments of the object-owner-relationship and invites the reader to dream along, reflecting on their own belongings and the things surrounding us on a daily basis. .