According to an Indian wisdom everyone is blind in one way or another and sees the world in his or her own way. Perception is subjective and therefore certainly not absolute. Human actions and underlying ideas are also perishable. However, the physical traces that remain are not. The earth is covered by a stone skin. This skin tells a story of power and especially its demise. Power structures are being expanded and overthrown. Ultimately, only remnants remain, as a visual texture that colors the landscape. The skin ages and is dug in by deeper scars.
Hans van der Linden observes reality. His pure still lifes isolate details that represent monolithic ideas. Stripped from all action, the images seem soothing and almost contemplative. But appearances are deceptive. The details show a history of power and domination but also call for reflection. A blind man sat behind a pile of stones and thought no one could see him reads like a fairytale idyll with a double meaning. It is about the human tendency for power and control, but also its transience.
A bench looks like it is made out of fabric but is carved in stone. On the edge of the Espacio Memoria y Derechos Humanos, it invites you to reflect on the former site of human destruction, from which the Argentine junta led its reign of terror from 1976 to 1983. We see the almost surreal remains of the Atlantic Wall in French Flanders. The beach is littered with memories of days gone by, but they also mutate over time. Or take the idea of freedom and progress that Emperor Haile Selassie and the university he founded were pursuing. The series show bastions of classical and modern communication, ancient mythical stones on remote islands, religious caves or a tower built by a pacifist mystic. The pure still lifes are the silent witnesses of petrified illusions.
Buenos Aires, 12/1/2017 – Zuydcoote, 1/4/2017 – Riga, 9/11/2016 – Meersel-Dreef, 11/2/2017 – Møn, 15/8/2016 – Eben-Emael, 15/4/2017 – Leffrinckoucke, 1/4/2017 – Kootwijk, 18/3/2017 – Addis Abeba, 27/11/2016
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