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Most of us consider decay a negative process that causes an object or space to lose its value. Dagmar Bosma (1994), however, sees great potential in objects marked by time. To them, decay is a transformative force. The loss of a clearly defined function can open up all kinds of new possibilities.
For SCRAP METAL DREAM BOAT (THE PIERS AHOY!) (2025), Bosma used scrap metal sourced from old industrial estates to dye fabrics. This technique entails a double transformation process: from metal appliance to rusty scrap metal, and subsequently to aura-like contours on textiles. An important source of inspiration for this installation are the photographs Alvin Baltrop made in the 1970s and 1980s of the dilapidated piers on the Hudson River in New York, at that time a popular gay cruising location. Baltrop subtly captured how this area transformed into a place of refuge, with occasional glimpses of naked bodies between the debris and collapsed steel constructions. The rusted iron trusses in Bosma’s installation reflect the weathered architecture in Baltrop’s photographs and sharply contrast with the rigidly maintained, functional Ahoy environment. While metal is often associated with power, modernism, and progress, it is inevitably bound to fall into a state of rust and decay.
Bosma draws our attention to these corrosive movements, while bearing the specific context of Ahoy in mind. This past November, the venue hosted an arms exhibition that was attended by Israeli arms manufacturers involved in the Palestinian genocide. Steel is central to the economy of destruction. Bosma: ‘May their bombs and fighter planes all go to rust!’
Text: Sarah van Binsbergen
Translated from Dutch by Marie Louise Schoondergang (The Art of Translation)