Klik hier voor Nederlands
The inspiration behind the moving installations of Amrith de Zoete (1997) come from industrial production processes, for instance in the food industry. While working as a parttime cleaner in a slaughterhouse, he noticed how automated machines delivered perfect products with cold efficiency while at the same time concealing the inhumane underlying process. De Zoete is fascinated by hyperobjects, a concept coined by philosopher Timothy Morton. It describes phenomena that are so wide-ranging and complex that we, as human beings, are barely able to grasp them, such as climate change or global industries. Using materials and techniques from these worlds, De Zoete’s enigmatic sculptures make the hidden machinery of our society tangible in a poetic way: the medium is the message.
His sculpture Merrily Act II (2024) at Prospects combines fragments of a rowing boat, and a moving oar with a human figure. The movements are automated while the figure has become hopelessly stuck and has no control over the machine. Rowers navigate with their backs towards their destination. De Zoete finds symbolic meaning in this: all our decisions are made by looking at the present and the past, but the future remains invisible. ‘Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream,’ the famous song goes. But, De Zoete wonders, is it fitting for us to go through life so haphazardly, blind to the consequences? Is the rower still able to change his course?
Text: Esmee Postma
Translated from Dutch by Marie Louise Schoondergang (The Art of Translation)