Because most of the cosmos is compost / 2017 / Solo exhibition / Presented at P/////AKT, Amsterdam (NL)
Featuring works by: Lee Castro, Styrmir Örn Guðmundsson, Géraldine Longueville, Marianne Theunissen, Terry Vreeburg, and Junsheng Zhou.
Because most of the cosmos is compost was a healing space of relaxation, reflection, and hospitality. Our world today is filled with a sense of rotting in the air. But there is hope that we are just composting, going through the shit so we can arrive to a new fertility; a new space of joyful growth. In order to activate the juices of the compost energy, the exhibition was filled with cozy couches, air filtering NASA plants, a bar serving a potion for improving artistic capacities, a cosmic sauna, and 4 sweaty Thursday night sessions were organized with special guest presentations: Géraldine Longueville, Aaron Schuster, Marianne Theunissen, and Francien van Westrenen.
For the duration of the exhibition, I lived in the upstairs space, performing on a daily basis. I offered guests private Obsessy sessions – where you could touch sassy abstract objects and talk.
PDF booklet with information on the works.
Photos by: Charlott Markus, Peter Happel, and Rob van de Werdt
Artworks as decoration / 2017 / Various artworks used for different purposes
NASA plants / 2017 / Plants listed on the NASA clean air study of 1989
Henry / Marianne Theunissen / 2015 / Henry vacuum cleaner, shoelaces, silicone
Saunra / 2017 / Fiat Multipla, sauna, Sun Ra music
Cosmic Cowboy / 2016 / Ink on paper
Bathroom architecture by Sophia Holst
Make your life nicer and better / 2017 / Laminated inkjet prints, inflatable bath tub
Obsessy in the sun / 2017 / Acrylic on paper
Obsessy / 2016-17 / Various sculptures and objects, private sessions of talking and touching
Opening night on 9 Sep 2017
We welcomed everyone in singing the song "Face the Music" by Sun Ra and his Arkestra. Guests were invited to use the Saunra for the first time. Food provided by Bun Tesi.
Thursday Night Sauna Session #1 - Géraldine Longueville
Géraldine gave a presentation opening up and serving her work, "3 states of water". She created 3 potions to be consumed by visitors. Introductory Water opens you up. Sweaty Water helps you to sweat it out, becoming clean and cured. And Focus Water creates a bubble around you in which you are protected, able to focus.
The same evening we listened to a piano concerto by Styrmir Örn Guðmundsson, "Music for Sauna People".
Thursday Night Sauna Session #2 - Aaron Schuster
Aaron gave a short talk on the subjects of dirt, waste, sanitation, and the hyperion activated sludge plant from a psychoanalytic perspective. Then he screened the amazing film "Cluny Brown" by Ernst Lubitsch from 1946.
Thursday Night Sauna Session #3 - Marianne Theunissen
Marianne Theunissen and I had a conversation on things, hoarders, food, and the body. After the talk Emmanuela Panza offered healing massages with the Obsessys.
Thursday Night Sauna Session #4 - Francien van Westrenen
Francien gave a lecture comparing architects Lina Bo Bardi (1914-1992, BR) and Frank van Klingeren (1919-1999, NL). She looked at their non-conformist ideas about architecture, display and culture, showing the value of nuisance, unclotting, and ways to understand the social. After the lecture we served "pregnant sandwiches", a recipe by Lina Bo Bardi.
