sort by

filter by


2049


2048

2047


2046


2045

2044

2043

2042


2041


2040


2039

2038


2037

2036


2035


2034

2033

2032

2031


2030

2029

2028

2027


2026


2025























































































































2020

Bachelor Fine Arts

2020

Andrea Dautzenberg

VOL OF LOOS

Fragility, transcience and surrealism are recurring themes within my work. I often use everyday materials: agar, pears, eggs, bubblegum, cheese. Materials that, on paper, read like a grocery list. They embody these themes and form a partnership between my actions and the natural course of the perishable material The artwork lives and dies. My work has no pre-assigned meaning: for me, it’s performative character is most important. It is up to the viewer to give substance to what it further represents.

Since we were abruptly told to leave the familiar confines of our artstudios, provided to us by school, as a result of the corona virus, I was forced to change my perspective. The mandatory isolation resulted in me not only literally residing inside, but also looking for inspiration within myself. Previously, I deliberately avoided biographical topics. I claimed there was a clear separation between the person Andrea and the artist Andrea. I rejected the idea of letting the two merge.

Being stuck at home, that merging took place nevertheless. Instead of working with materialistic value, I started working with the notion of sentimental value: a shift from physical to mental. Last december my grandfather moved out of the house he lived in for most of his life: with and without my late grandmother. During that same period, I moved as well. After a relationship of nearly seven years, me and my previous partner decided to go our separate ways. It was a little surreal: my grandfather and me, simultaneously moving onto a new chapter of our lives.

The person Andrea is sentimental to a fault. The past is sacred. I’ve had trouble parting with things for as long as I can remember. As a little girl I used to say that I wanted to keep the clothes I outgrew for my future-children. Everything had to be preserved. Things are just that: things. It’s what they embody that makes me incapable of throwing them away. They become artifacts that represent a specific time or person. Parting with the object would detract from the memory.
The merger of person and artist, forged through this new reality, created new themes within my work: What is home? What value do we attach to the things we surround ourselves with?

There’s a well known dutch phrase, originating from the poem De zeer oude zingt by Lucebert (1954), that goes ‘Alles van waarde is weerloos’. Which, roughly translated, means as much as: ‘Everything that’s valuable is defenseless’. I often wonder if it could be reversed. Is everything that is defenseless valueable? Is there a value to be found in defensless things? The defenselessness of an object may make that we handle it with more care. If you know something isn’t always gonna be there, you may cherish it more. At least that’s true in my case. Vulnerability gives things meaning.

Vol of loos is an umbrella title that indicate the common themes within my work. It refers to the dutch words Waardevol (valuable) and Waardeloos (worthless). With minimal interventions and with respect for the material, I try to play with the question: What makes something valuable- or worthless?





























































1935



1929

1928

1927


1926


1925

1924


1923

1922


1921


1920


1919

1918

1917

1916


1915


1914

1913


1912

1911


1909


1908


1907

1906

1905

1904


1903


1901


1900

1899


1897


1896


1894

1893

1892


1891


1890


1889

1888


1887

1886


1885


1884

1883

1882

1881


1880

1879

1878

1877


1876


1875

1874


1873

1872


1871


1870


1869

1868

1867

1866


1865


1864

1863


1862

1861


1860

1859


1858


1857

1856

1855

1854


1853


1852

1851


1850

1849


1848

1847


1846


1845

1843

1842


1841


1840


1839

1838


1837

1836


1835


1834

1833

1832

1831


1829

1828

1827



1824


Maastricht Institute of Arts