About Transmute24; collected footage.
The presented work is filmed in the building Transmute24 by artist Gijs Verhoofstad. Transmute24 was a project initiated by artist BIOP during the time Code Rood was still based on the former (secret) german airbase, fliegerhorst Deelen near Arnhem (Netherlands). The building consisted of two layers with 39 identical rooms that served as sleeping quarters for the cadets. The rules of the project were quite simple and clear: everything was permitted, as long as the safety of the visitors was guaranteed. Artists were invited to respond to the ever-changing conditions within the building. The Transmute building was open for public every last Saturday of the month, this event was connected to the monthly art festival Code Rood at the same location.
Water often plays a big role in my work, because of it archetypical and transcendent potential. For example: rain (especially in the Netherlands) is often associated as dreary and sombre. While it also can be interpreted as something positive. Rain consists of the most basic need for a human; water. "It falls right out of the sky!" Rain lets things grow from dead corners and it cleans the streets. This comprehensive metaphor tells us that in unfortunate events one could surrender to the circumstances and realize there’s hope. Rain and water played a big role on the conditions within Transmute24.
Within the boundaries of the building I became both spectator and participant of the different cycles: summer / winter, day / night / rain / sun. I moved along with the changing rooms and the rooms became a canvas. Mainly materials and objects were used that were already present in the building. With its hyper functional architecture it protected against influences from the world surrounding it. Once this building was used to house a safe inner world. Now, that man has left, the laws of nature no longer seem to hold the building together. Within the concrete walls a twilight world seems to manifest.
A world where the functional inner world and the outer world were able to meet and interact. This encounter created a harmony with accompanying rhythms and processes that could only exist within the boundaries of the building. On one hand they are related to decay and destruction, on the other hand they could be designations of an endless transition. I see the decay of the building in relation to the elements as a metaphor for a framework of thought. Within this philosophy, I consider that everything that surrounds us, like water, is in motion and continuously versatile, in which everything cooperates to a greater or lesser extent. To me Transmute24 represents a brief moment in time where one could experience that nothing is ever truly lost.