House & Garden

Witte de With, 1999

The retrospective exhibition House & Garden at Witte de With, a contemporary art institution in Rotterdam, examines the theme of urban landscape on the basis of various projects. 

Rear View is tailored to the rear of the Witte de With building, which offers a view of a colorful collection of houses, office buildings and apartment buildings housing people from all over the world. By distributing planters with red geraniums to the residents, all individual balconies and gardens are merged into one large garden that continues into the exhibition hall, where a swing hangs between boxes of these same red geraniums. 

Obsolete Views, on the other hand, relates to the street side of the building with its busy road and the various shops, restaurants and houses. The windows of the exhibition space are partly copied by means of mirrored glass and framed by white felt frames. Hanging motionlessly on the walls in front of the windows of mirrors or lying on the floor resembling a huge tangle. The view is determined by the moment. 

Undergrowth consists of a collection of fabrics with a floral motif; a representation of nature that is often used in interiors. The fabrics, often still attached to the roll, are spread over the ground and together form a sea of flowers. The fans and the exhaust pipe covers refer to the foundation of buildings, which people prefer to keep out of sight of their luxurious interiors.