Artwork of the month - video (36 sec)
Climbing the pole
Year | 2020 |
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Size | 300 x 90 x 10 cm |
Materials | 5mm foamed-PVC panel (printed and cut to shape), wood, screws |
Edition | / |
For Sale | Yes, contact our gallery Fred&Ferry (Antwerp, BE) |
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In this image, we see Robbert climbing up what seems to be a narrow plank of wood while Frank holds it up. It is a suspenseful scene from R&F F&R’s second theatre show To Break – The Window of Opportunity. The plank is in fact two thin slats of wood that bend dauntingly to and fro as Robbert ascends; only by keeping them perfectly straight can Frank prevent them from breaking under Robbert’s weight.
With this theatrical act being frozen in a hyper-realistic 2D cut-out, F&R R&F appear to be performing a durational performance, holding on tight forever. But are they clamped to the plank or to each other?
Robbert&Frank’s shared history of collaborative performance was born out of a string of absurd, sometimes silly physical challenges. Prototypical examples from their time at art school include jumping over artworks (big and small), performing choreographies centred on a ladder, burying themselves and climbing the most diverse of objects. One of the most elusive challenges was climbing up a plank of wood that was not mounted to anything. In fact, it would be several years after graduating before they successfully pulled off this feat.
As such, for the artists, this act symbolises stubborn, Sisyphean persistence and their shared quest, which may sometimes fly in the face of reason. It is an image that embodies both awkwardness and heroism.
Here we see the cut-out presented in the garden of Be-Part, Waregem, during F&R R&F’s solo show ‘As you think so shall you become’. The first snowfall almost has the effect of turning this work into a snow globe or a Christmas card, making it the perfect artwork of the month for January. May we continue awkwardly and heroically attempting the seemingly impossible, in 2023 and beyond.
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ARTWORKS
Theater
Table Dialogues | 2021 - ongoing | |
Don't we deserve grand human projects that give us meaning? | 2017 - 2021 | |
To Break - The window of opportunity | 2014 - 2015 |
Performances
Alter Ego Surgery | 2009 |
Go away sorrow of the world
Suitcase project
Clay tablets
Hugging | 2020 | |
Helping Hand | 2020 | |
Lunch | 2020 | |
To Break (theatre scene) | 2020 | |
Gemini Ritual | 2019 | |
Mask Totem Pole | 2019 | |
Ritual Fire | 2019 |
Shrines
Janus Self-Portrait
Sculpture |
2021 | |
Burning Shrine at Franks new home
Video |
2021 | |
Magic Mirrors - Shrine
Sculpture |
2021 | |
Shredding Sorrows
Sculpture |
2019 | |
To Break
Sculpture |
2021 |
(Solo) Exhibitions
Magic Mirrors - Ceramic Shrine
Fred&Ferry Gallery, Antwerp (BE) |
2021 | |
Breadcrumbs
Be-Part, Waregem (BE) |
2020 | |
Dr. Valcke
Water Clinic, Kortrijk (BE) |
2015 |
Drawing
Doors of Perception
Wall drawing |
2022 | |
Self-portrait Alter-egos
Drawing |
2020 | |
Box of Pandora
Wall drawing |
2020 | |
R&F F&R Covid 1.0
Wall drawing |
2020 | |
R&F F&R Cosmolgy 1.0
Wall drawing |
2020 |
Weakness is provocative
Other prints, books & editions
Other sculptures & installations
Other video works & projects
PONG
video installation |
2014 | |