Duwen
1994
Photography, 125 x 294 cm.
Materials: colour photograph
Collection: Bruikleen M HKA van Stichting Beeldende Kunst Middelburg/De Vleeshal (Inv. no. VH0254).
Duwen [Push] shows huge refrigerated counter full of pre-packaged meat. The viewer sees the case from the top. A person's hand presses into the plastic foil wrapped around one of the meat packages. This bizarre perspective, combined with the packages of raw meat, regimented in orderly rows according to the type of meat, and the rusty shades of the tiled floor turn this photograph into a piece that could almost be called abstract. Duwen highlights the bizarre act of “pushing” to an even greater extent through the tight, geometric background that dominates the piece. The only glimpse the viewer has of the character is an arm, a lock of hair, a shoulder strap and a shoe. The space Duwen occupies is in itself a kind of vacuum: there is no plot and there is no rhyme or reason to the story.
