Between dream and deed
I know what it feels like to strive for something beautiful
Anet van de Elzen between dream and action
Anet van de Elzen never decided that she wanted to be an artist, it happened, and since then the images, drawings, photos and performances have been linked together into a unique and original oeuvre. At its core, her work revolves around communication or, as she puts it: “The first thing that comes to mind as my main motivation is: contact. Communication on a different than the everyday level. The same way as a poem can be, one can experieynce an image. Art lets me escape from reality and takes me to an area where I have not been before.”
“My work arises from a subconscious layer, an imaginary or poetic element. It can never be explained literally, although there is naturally an idea underlying it. That idea is always inspired by my own life, my environment or a situation that I have to relate to or for which I have to find a 'solution'. The assignment for an art application in the Groenoord district is such a situation. I enter that situation to try to bring a number of elements together in such a way that they provide a 'solution' for that specific context. Ultimately, I am more of an experience person than just an idea person. For me, experience is about the way in which a work can best develop. I get an idea, go to work, and by dealing with the subject or matter something is created and from there on I can continue working.”
“Wir haben die Kunst damit wir nicht an der Wahrheit zugrunde gehen.” is a frequently quoted statement by Nietzsche. The truth to which he refers could be understood as absolute being - because our mind simply needs something to hold on to - while reality, perhaps, lies rather in a process of 'becoming', a process in which things literally develop, they need to be wrapped. The senses are a tool to bring these things to the surface or to bring them out of hiding, a tool to discover the world. The work of Anet van de Elzen is about the reality of the process, and the ambiguous relationship of the maker to her subject: committed and at the same time distanced (a distance that in fact mainly affects the autobiography of the maker herself).
Anet van de Elzen does not like a studio full of stock. She prefers to bring her works outside. Her performances also arose from a need for a different, more direct contact. As a sculptural element in the space, she uses her body in theatrical manifestations for the public. Van de Elzen: “During a performance I deny myself, to put myself in the shoes of someone else, I have to be open and forget myself to establish contact with my audience.” In the beginning she was very nervous, while now she meditates and does tai chi exercises to train herself in the concentration needed to do a good job.
Her performances take her all over the world, from Norway to South Africa and from the United States to Japan. “In the Netherlands there is not much happening in the field of performances and if you as an artist want to work within this medium, you quickly end up in an international circuit. I started performing in 1992 at the first festival that I organized myself, together with a group of British artists, in the Netherlands. From that contact, the link with abroad continued to develop and until 2002 I was very intensively involved in performances. Now my life has changed and I want to travel less, To do all those performances abroad was very intense and from 2004 onwards I decided to stay with myself a little more, to go back into my studio, and that decision coincided nicely with major changes in my life, such as the fact that I was having a child. That decision brought me peace.”
In recent years, Anet van de Elzen has been mainly active in the Netherlands. And now her work can be seen in Schiedam as part of the assignment for the Groenoord-Zuid district. In the context of the restructuring of Groenoord-Zuid, Woonplus Schiedam and the Culture department of the municipality of Schiedam have awarded three art commissions. One commission was awarded to artist Anet van de Elzen to create an art application, where the design had to be inspired by stories and conversations with children and adults from the neighborhood.
Van de Elzen: “My assignment consists of three very different parts. The first is an image that represents a child from the neighborhood, that is inspired by a Somali girl who moved me every time during the workshops I did with the children. Then there is a CD made by a group of rappers from the neighborhood. They have written a song about their observations in the Groenoord Zuid district. It has become a very positive song. That CD was created with a lot of enthusiasm and thanks to professional guidance from Urban House, an organization that is active in Schiedam and Vlaardingen. They offer workshops to young people by artists from the world of rap, breakdance and street dance. The rappers are called Reflex and their CD is completely in line with the concept in terms of design and content. A line of text from the rap 'I know what it feels like to strive for something beautiful' is inlaid in the street pattern of the Obrechtstraat, the most central axis of the neighborhood.”
“That text is the third part of the assignment and because the three works could almost have been by three different artists - if it were not for the fact that they are originally very close to each other - I had a strong need for a publication that reflected the diversity but also shows the connectedness of the works in one and the same assignment.”
When asked about similarities and differences between working on her free work and making work in public space from a commissioned situation, she answers that the assignment in Schiedam, just like her performances, has brought her a lot when it comes to contact with people. The real similarity lies mainly in the courage one needs to start it. “And when I look back on it, this assignment was a successful, but also very tough performance,” says Van de Elzen.
“In an assignment situation, a number of elements come together, namely the assignment itself, the environment, and my personal idioma.. In my free work I rely entirely on my own imagination, which comes into its own when working with photography, film or performance. An assignment always offers a great opportunity to conduct research, but for an assignment to be successful, it is essential that there is a dialogue, a conversation between two parties. In Schiedam I really had the feeling that there was joint involvement and I liked that. Contact, just like experience, is important in my work. Besides the fact that I find it inspiring, it is also a protection against your own limitations. It is always a search to find the right flow. If there is a good balance with the outside world, the assignment automatically comes to life and you sometimes get unexpected, wonderful reactions. My feelings about this assignment are actually expressed very nicely in the image I have when I think of someone in the neighborhood who opens the curtains in the morning and then sees the boys' text. That is a beautiful, poetic start to the day.”
Anet van de Elzen has made a report of the entire process in which the assignment was realized, a story that impresses because it is written from direct observations, without judgement, averse to moral messages and free of double agendas. When asked whether she feels that her work in Groenoord Zuid means a promotion for the neighborhood and could therefore also have a political connotation, she responds unequivocally: “I am not concerned with whether it is a promotion for the neighborhood, or whether it has political significance. I think the process that precedes the actual work is important and especially that I was able to do it together with the people, at least with a number of young people, and now that it is finished and presented, we will see what the effect is.”
'I know what it feels like to strive for something beautiful': for Anet van de Elzen, that sentence, between dream and action, has taken on a multitude of meanings. The perspective of the neighborhood, but also that of the residents, and in particular the boys themselves, has be
“In an assignment situation, a number of elements come together, namely the assignment itself, the environment, and my personal visual language. In my free work I rely entirely on my own imagination, which comes into its own when working with photography, film or performance. An assignment always offers a great opportunity to conduct research, but for an assignment to be successful, it is essential that there is a dialogue, a conversation between two parties. In Schiedam I really had the feeling that there was joint involvement and I liked that. Contact, just like experience, is important in my work. Besides the fact that I find it inspiring, it is also a protection against your own limitations. It is always a search to find the right flow. If there is a good balance with the outside world, the assignment automatically comes to life and you sometimes get unexpected, wonderful reactions. My feelings about this assignment are actually expressed very nicely in the image I have when I think of someone in the neighborhood who opens the curtains in the morning and then sees the boys' text. That is a beautiful, poetic start to the day.”
Anet van de Elzen has made a report of the entire process in which the assignment was realized, a story that impresses because it is written from direct observations, without judgement, averse to moral messages and free of double agendas. When asked whether she feels that her work in Groenoord Zuid means a promotion for the neighborhood and could therefore also have a political connotation, she responds unequivocally: “I am not concerned with whether it is a promotion for the neighborhood, or whether it has political significance. I think the process that precedes the actual work is important and especially that I was able to do it together with the people, at least with a number of young people, and now that it is finished and presented, we will see what the effect is.”
'I know what it feels like to strive for something beautiful': for Anet van de Elzen, that sentence, between dream and action, has taken on a multitude of meanings. The perspective of the neighborhood, but also that of the residents, and in particular the boys themselves, has become visible.
This text is based on an interview with the artist.
Pietje Tegenbosch, April 2007
Pietje Tegenbosch is an art historian / art critic and works as
advisor to the ABN AMRO Art Foundation.
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