A phenomenological space:
The WoonMachine appeals directly to the senses of the visitor. We hear someone walking on the wooden floor, turning on the tap, running a shower and the rustling of clothes as they fall to the ground. From outside comes the roar of a car passing by and crickets chirping in the background. The light changes from harsh and overhead at noon, through to low and orange at sunset and soft blue in the morning. A voice orders the inhabitant to stand. She asks him to perform very precise movements such as lying on his back, pushing away the duvet a little and raising his torso up with his elbows.
The inhabitant of the WoonMachine has no body. We hear him move and as the light turns on and the Venetian blinds suddenly close, we can also observe the consequences of his actions. Yet we do not see him. He has no image — the body of the inhabitant is a projection in the mind of the visitor.
A psychological space:
In the WoonMachine an ordinary day is dismantled. Every movement, sound (and silence) is systematically developed and staged in an endless loop of light and sound. The detailed actions attract all the attention and hardly leave any space. The recognizability of these actions is almost disturbing. It is as if we are engaged in a compulsive neurosis, caught in the everyday life that unfolds in a place floating somewhere between a modernist house, a 19th-century display cabinet and an Ikea viewing stand.
A performative space:
The WoonMachine is an active space. Rather than just shaping a framework in which the action can happen, the WoonMachine provokes the action itself and is thus an architecture determined by what it can bring about rather than by what it shows. By accessing this space the spectator becomes a participant and can choose to actively live in the installation, or, simply by his presence, be experienced as ‘part of a scene’. The installation therefore works on two levels: it is both a small theatre where sound and light produce a succession of domestic scenes and also a space containing all the features of a real house such as running water, Ikea furniture and a cooker. The visitor can make coffee or take a shower if he or she feels like it.
Sound and conceptual advice: Christophe Meierhans
Commissioned by: Z33 Centre for contemporary art and design
Co-producers: TAKT Dommelhof, Huis aan de Werf Utrecht
Executive producer: Mokum vzw
With the support of the Flemish Community
