Cézanna van Huisstede

JUST LOOK

As humans, we are constantly trying to give meaning to life and everything that comes with it. We question everything and want answers to questions that may never be answered. “Even in its most audacious steps, the mind's deepest longing joins man's unconscious feeling about his universe: the need for intimacy, the longing for clarity,” writes philosopher Albert Camus in his book The Myth of Sisyphus, page 29.

From this need, and with inspiration from Albert Camus' theory that life must be absurd, I work. I respond to this need by giving the viewer as little information as possible about the meaning of the work. For this project, “JUST LOOK,” I became fascinated by our habit of using screens. I created a series of videos about this, which were also performed as live performances. By removing the normal habit of using screens from its context and placing it in a different context, a recognisable yet confusing image is created that will raise questions for the viewer.

My inspiration for creating my work comes from things I see happening around me in everyday life. These can be objects that are out of place in the places where I encounter them, but also certain behaviours people exhibit. I want to highlight these objects or habits by giving them a new context. I try to give them a certain twist, creating an absurd situation or image. This still contains elements of the original source of my inspiration. It's important to me to execute my absurd ideas with complete conviction and to convey them to the viewer. Perhaps after seeing my work, they will be convinced that what they've seen is true, or perhaps I've ensured that they leave the room with more questions than answers.

I've always been preoccupied with the idea that life can be absurd. Camus also addressed the existential question of what the meaning of life is, and if there is no meaning, then life must be absurd. "This world is not rational in itself; that is all one can say about it. Absurd, however, is the confrontation between the irrational and the intense desire for clarity, which lies deep within the human being, waiting for an answer. The absurd depends as much on humanity as on the world." [The Myth of Sisyphus, page 34] For now, we could therefore label life absurd, since we have no answer to the meaning of life. Despite this, as humans, we cannot accept this and form our own meanings. With my art, I try to create something similar by providing little to no context, and letting the viewer think for themselves or determine what the work should mean.

We become accustomed to all sorts of habits, but we only truly gain insight into their absurdity when they are taken out of context. As Wim T. Schippers once said about his work "The Peanut Butter Floor": "If everyone always spread peanut butter on the floor, and at some point someone spread it on their bread, you'd think, 'Well, what was the point of that? Who's going to spread it on their bread?'" Here too, the absurdity is only recognised once the context has changed. In my work, I achieve this by keeping the habit the same, but alienating the object or location.

Just as in life, there is no real answer, truth, or meaning; it is all created by ourselves. This also happens in my work; it has no meaning, but thanks to the human need to give it meaning, it will emerge naturally.