Ian Skirvin’s (1991) father hails from the American state of Kentucky and used to live close to the Appalachian Mountains. When Skirvin watched the documentary Mountain Talk, which is about the language spoken in the Appalachians, he heard the term sigogglin for the very first time. This word describes that when something is crooked, it can only appear straight when a kind person stares at it sideways.
In his work, Skirvin is showing exactly those things that require kindness to be observed. He is mainly interested in things that are difficult to understand.“To do something with that takes guts. Through my work I want to invite people to go on an adventure and discover what is happening on the edges of our understanding.” For Prospects, Skirvin created a labyrinth with various spaces where visitors are especially prone to run into themselves.“I hope visitors will forget they’re at an art fair for a while.”
According to the artist, darkness is the void that completes human existence. It is the place where the things we do not know linger. In order to discover how these hard to define things work, the artist believes we need to allow them to enter our lives more often. This does not have to be that difficult as the sunny side is already presented often enough. For instance in promotional messages that make us believe certain products and services will live up to their rosy promises. Skirvin considers it his duty to counter that polished image by pointing out the rough edges.
Text: Jorne Vriens
Translation from Dutch to English: Marie Louise Schoondergang