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Zoro Feigl (NL 1983) has his office in Amsterdam, but works in the Belgian Kempen region where he has a large outdoor studio. Space is essential for Feigl, as his installations are usually large and noisy. Feigl has always had a fascination for ‘how things are put together’. Only later did he realize that this had to do with art. Initially, he studied design in Utrecht, and enjoyed himself there, but got stuck because he didn’t stick to the instructions of his teachers. He ended up at the Rietveld Academy, where he graduated in 2007. In 2011, he followed a further education at the HISK in Ghent. His work has already been shown at Art Rotterdam, where he won the prize for the best presentation at Intersections in 2015.
On Saturday 14 May, Feigl’s solo exhibition Zonvonkengesproei will open in the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, a stone’s throw from the Van Nelle Factory. The museum opens its doors after a thorough renovation that lasted two years. Ellis Kat is involved in Zonvonkengesproei as a curator and talks about the effect the newly renovated museum had on Feigl’s work, his method and the ideas behind his work.
You have built up the exhibition over the past few days. Is that different with Zoro’s machines than with an exhibition with two-dimensional works?
Past days?! Past weeks, you mean. Due to the size and complexity of the installations, a large team spent weeks building it up. In fact, work on this exhibition started about three years ago. Initially, Zoro’s solo exhibition was planned just before the renovation. He was given a license to use the spaces as he wished, as the museum would be renovated afterwards anyway. Everything was cut and dried, the works were ready for transport and then the lockdown followed. It was decided to renovate first and postpone the exhibition.
A big difference in curating this exhibition compared to an exhibition with two-dimensional works is that paintings are usually completed in the studio, transported to the museum where they are unpacked and hung. Now every installation was actually made in the museum itself. Zoro’s studio in Belgium is large, but an eighteen meter long installation such as Getij cannot be completely built there. So the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam actually functioned as Zoro’s studio for weeks. Only there and then did it become clear how it all came together.
In some cases Zoro made a smaller version of a work in his studio, such as the work Fosfenen, which consists of countless moving mirrors that reflect in space. He first showed me that version in his studio amid the clutter and in the semi-darkness. In the museum it really comes into its own and I saw the magic of the end result.
Is curating an exhibition like this different from a ‘normal’ exhibition?
I’m afraid a normal exhibition doesn’t really exist. Zonvonkengesproei is a special exhibition to curate. More than ever I have learned that the place where an exhibition takes place plays a fundamental role. At first we were in the midst of the renovation, during which he was given carte blanche to demolish the museum. Now, Zoro was obliged to act neatly; he not only ensures that the new building is not damaged, but with his art he knows how to unlock the new elements in the halls for the visitor. It has become a completely different exhibition. Due to these circumstances, Zoro had to work very carefully and he has shaken off the bad boy image. When you think of his installations, you envision robust, twisting, spinning machines. Now I have seen how ingenious, concentrated and skilful Zoro works. In retrospect, the pandemic is a gift to the renovated museum and Zoro’s artistic development: they pull each other up.
The exhibition comprises six rooms. Do those rooms provide a survey of Zoro’s work or are they six recent or new works?
It is almost all new work. Only Zwermen, an installation that the museum acquired in 2020, has been on display before. The works in Zonvonkengesproei mark a new step in Feigl’s oeuvre. He has grown up. It remains kinetic work and it does make noise, but it was made with a lot of attention, so that the visitor also dares to give that attention to the works. He has managed to get to the core of his artistic practice.
The exhibition is called Zonvonkengesproei. What does that mean and why exactly does that term cover the charge?
That is a neologism, a non-existent word that comes from Herman Gorter’s 1889 poem Mei. In the poem the girl Mei meets the love of her life, Balder. She is in ecstasy and directly projects her feelings onto the young god. It’s such an overwhelming feeling that she can’t quite put it into words and that’s why she uses this word. Zoro’s work evokes a similar overwhelming feeling. It’s so all-encompassing that it’s hard to describe.
What is the core of Zoro’s artistic practice you were talking about?
In his work Zoro tries to incorporate natural phenomena and everyday things in installations. Think of the behaviour of a flock of starlings, ripples in the sand in the surf or glowworms on your retina, which you see when you close your eyes for a long time. They are things that happen, but which we cannot influence. No human can control the way a flock of starlings moves in the sky, no matter how much we think we have power over nature. Zoro does try to seize these elusive situations and make them accessible in his work. Suddenly he takes control. Just for a moment, because when he turns on his installations, all the balls – the starlings, or the mirrors – the glowworms – all go in a direction that he could never have predicted himself. The work itself has come alive again. If you have seen his installations, hopefully when you exit the exhibition you will notice everyday things that you previously passed by.
How does Zoro work? Does he start from an idea, a vision, or rather from material that he finds interesting?
Zoro has no set method. Some works, such as Floating Floor, are created by association. One evening, Zoro took the bag from a 5-litre carton of Aldi wine, squeezed it and watched the wine flow to other parts of the bag. A kind of waterbed effect. What if we have floors like this, he wondered. In Schiedam you can now walk on a parquet floor that is constantly sagging. Another example is the installation Lianen, which is displayed in the attic of the museum. This installation consists of four metal ribbons that are driven by motors and that wind continuously. Together they form a choreography. Like many of his installations, this one takes on a more human character the longer you look at it. The idea for Lianen was a package that was closed with tie-wraps, they flew away when he cut them open. This uncontrollable effect intrigued him and he tries to capture it in a work. However, the reason for a work can also be much more pragmatic. It also happens that a material has been wandering around in his studio for a long time, he keeps tripping over it and decides to use the material, so that it is finally cleaned up. Not having a set method ensures that Zoro is always open to play and accidental discoveries.
Zoro often uses classical mechanics in his work. Motorcycles in all shapes and sizes. Why does he use this rather dated technology?
Why does a painter use paint? I disagree that he uses outdated technology. Now that I had a look behind the scenes, I see how much modern technology is involved. An installation such as Getij consists of PCs at the back that control programmed choreographies of the bands. It is a combination of raw materials and modern techniques. The assumption that he only gets things from scrap to use in his work is patently incorrect. At times he spends weeks looking for a specific part of his installation to finish it exactly the way he envisioned. He received this time from the Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, so that he has transcended his bad boy image.
In articles about Zoro’s work you often read something like: if you have ever seen a work by Zoro, you will not soon forget it. Can you explain why his works leave such a strong impression?
That’s Zonvonkengesproei; you can’t quite put it into words. Let me not say too much about it: just come to the exhibition, then you can experience it for yourself.
Abysses by Zoro Feigl can be seen at Art Rotterdam in the booth of Gallery Fred&Ferry.
The exhibition Zonvonkengesproei by Zoro Feigl can be seen from 14 May through 11 September in Stedelijk Museum Schiedam.
During Art Rotterdam, you can spot the work of hundreds of artists from all over the world. In this series we highlight a number of artists who will show remarkable work during the fair.
Otobong Nkanga wrote a poem for her last solo exhibition in Bregenz, Austria. She performed it as a clay tablet. In keeping with an exhibition that revolves, among other things, on the different manifestations of water and earth.
The reason Nkanga wrote a poem is that she doesn’t like writing texts explaining her work. “I don’t normally like writing texts about my work, but if you’d want me to explain my work then read a poem. What poetry does is to activate the emotions. To amplify the thoughts and to go beyond the language of politics and economy.”
Beyond the political and economic
Bypassing the political and economic language in order to address the viewer directly on an emotional level, that is in a nutshell what the multidisciplinary artist Otobong Nkanga (1974) aims at with her work. Through her wall hangings, drawings, video works, photography, installations and performances, she discusses almost every major topic of our time: think of the climate crisis, the extraction and distribution of raw materials and sustainability.
In doing so, she has an eye for both the places where the raw materials end up and the places that usually remain out of the picture: the parts of the world where raw materials are mined. The latter areas often coincide with former colonies, such as in West Africa, where the consequences of the colonial and current Western presence continue to affect societies to this day. “It’s important for me to work on the correlation of worlds that are visible to worlds that are not. My works move between the non-visible and the nontangible to places that are concrete, places that awaken the senses: touch, smell, sight, sound.”
Nkanga is considered one of the most important contemporary artists of African origin. Born in Kano, Nigeria, she grew up in France and lives and works in Antwerp. Her work was shown at the Venice Biennale (2019), documenta 14 (2017), and 14 Rooms in Basel (2014). In recent years, Nkanga has exhibited at the Gropius Bau in Berlin, Tate St Ives, Castello di Rivoli, and Kunsthaus Bregenz, among others.
Illustrative of her thinking is the answer she gave when asked what motivation means to her: “When you have a storm in Mozambique, that cleanses up a whole place. While some places are very turbulent, in others places it’s very calm, so you’re able to work and continue your life for 60 years. So to be able to be motivated is not entirely up to you. It is in the kind of environment and support that you get from people, places, landscape, weather, temperatures. All that makes it possible. I’ve been fortunate to have been in places where all those things align.” Where in the Western narrative everything begins and ends with the individual, Nkanga starts by taking into account environmental factors.
The Weight of Scars
In her work she shows the global interaction between these variables. You could therefore regard Nkanga’s work as a poetic system analysis – one with a glimmer of hope. A recurring theme in her work is the extraction of raw materials – such as mica, a raw material that is used in make-up, among other things – and its worldwide implications.
Nkanga made the tapestry The Weight of Scars in 2015 after a visit to the Tsumeb mines in Namibia. On the installation you see two headless figures on either side who seem to have a sticks in their hands connected to 9 photos of mine shafts, holes, pipelines and explosions.
Nkanga found it difficult to look at the gaps in the landscape. As she walked into the old mine shafts, she thought of the scars and trauma people must have suffered here and the wounds in the landscape the mine caused. “While I was there, I realized that Tsumeb looked like this due to the use of explosives by the German colonial overlords. By doing so they have not only accelerated the method of mining, but also permanently changed the fabric of society.”
According to Nkanga, our insatiable appetite for consumer goods such as telephones, computers and make-up has made us addicted to raw materials such as copper, gold and mica. Yet, if we realize that we are all connected through these raw materials, we can interact with our landscape and each other in a different way, according to Nkanga.
Unearthed
For Unearthed, the solo exhibition at Kunsthaus Bregenz last winter, Nkanga was given access to all 4 floors of the museum. She installed a tapestry on each floor of the museum showing one of the ways earth and water are intertwined. From the depths of the ocean, to the seasons, and the scorching heat of the sunlight in the desert, where plants grow despite the heat. As if nature always finds a way to carry on.
In addition, she had a tree stump installed on every floor between the floor and the ceiling. The slowly drying tree stump represents the gradual change. You cannot see the gradual but certain death of the tree, but there are signs from which the visitor can infer this. Call it an incentive to critically reflect on how we deal with our planet.
On the third floor, cables run from the dying stump to three glass capsules containing cuttings. In an interview, Nkanga says that tree was already nominated to be cut down, because it overshadowed other trees, preventing them from growing. Sometimes leaving a hole isn’t bad. Still, one Nkanga decided to plant new trees elsewhere so as not to burden the local ecosystem too much.
To celebrate the Kunsthaus’s 25th anniversary, the museum has rented the 16th-century Scuola di San Pasquale during the Venice Biennale to draw attention to its forward-thinking exhibition program. In addition to a presentation of work by Anna Boghiguian, the Kunsthaus shows work by Otobong Nkanga.
Tied to the other side
At the upcoming edition of Art Rotterdam, the Lumen Travo gallery will show a new tapestry that has never been on display before. Tied to the other side measures 3.5 x 6.5 meters and was woven according to Nkanga’s specifications and drawings by the Tilburg Textile Lab on the recently purchased Dornier loom. This is a state-of-the-art loom that can handle complex patterns and structures and can weave rugs up to three and a half meters wide.
Tied to the other Side is about how we deal with the elements of earth and water. Our appetite for raw materials has taken on such forms that drilling is also taking place in deeper places in the sea. On the blue tapestry we see this craving take on the shape of a scaffold-like structure with arms, plants and a container attached to it, and in the shape of a needle that pricks a human body. The needle represents the machinery and system that exploits people, land and sea. On the left you see a number of staffs. One of those staffs emits bright rays that indicate as yet unknown possibilities. Rays projecting into the future.
Sculpture Park Sculpture Park will feature ten to twenty primarily large-scale works of art related to nature or the urban environment. The presentation will be located in the Tabaksfabriek (Tobacco Factory), one of the industrial and historic sections of the Van Nelle Fabriek. The architectural details are being developed by spatial design studio Tom Postma Design (known not only for their work at Art Rotterdam, but also Art Basel, Frieze Masters and TEFAF). Part of the exhibition space is dedicated to artists who live in Rotterdam or are graduates of a Rotterdam art academy, since after all, Sculpture Park revolves around the connection with the city of Rotterdam. Rotterdam boasts a unique international collection of over 50 major works of art. These sculptures, placed at important locations throughout the city, form part of the public programme for Rotterdam Art Week. The administrator of this collection, Sculpture International, is also involved in the content and promotion of Sculpture Park at the Van Nelle Fabriek. As part of this involvement, a representative of Sculpture International, together with a representative of Tom Postma Design and a Rotterdam curator/museum director, are all on the selection committee. Stichting Doom en Daad is also an important initiator of Sculpture Park. This foundation, which was established in 2017, is a philanthropic fund that invests in projects that help make Rotterdam attractive and appealing to residents and visitors alike.
Sculpture Park selection committee
The works of art will be chosen by a selection committee consisting of Ove Lucas (director CBK Rotterdam and director Sculpture International Rotterdam), Saskia van Kampen (curator Boijmans Van Beuningen) and Tom Postma (creative director Tom Postma Design).
New Art Section
With the always surprising New Art Section, Art Rotterdam offers a unique presentation of up-and-coming artists. This year, the focus is enhanced. To endorse the philosophy behind Art Rotterdam – discovering new art and encouraging young talent – a central placement has been chosen. Visitors to this 24th edition cannot miss it, as the New Art Section is located directly next to the entrance and its innovative presentations are hard to ignore. Two restaurants are located adjacent to the presentation that are accessible from the entrance area.
Michiel Simons of galerie M.Simons, comments, “As a young gallery owner, I am extremely proud to once again have the opportunity to take part in the New Art Section at the most prominent contemporary art event in the Netherlands. The bold character and exceptional quality of Art Rotterdam make the event a platform where, together with my artists, I can always go the extra mile in creating a presentation that is as unexpected and surprising as possible. I look forward to welcoming visitors in February with a solo presentation of work by Hadrien Gerenton and to get inspired by my fellow gallery owners.”
