Print from iPhone shot

Homage to Albert Oehlen by one of his recent master pupils at the Düsseldorf Academy

Lithograph

The work of the artist Mathilde ter Heijne (*1969) from the Netherlands deals with the mind of humans, the arc of suspense of understanding und not-understanding, it as well raises questions about cultural differences. Her subject is the self-sacrifice of her own and other idols, of love and of the nation. She works distanced and incompromising on the limits of social and individual actions and cultural differences. She examines the term and the expectation of love in different geographical locations and the different approaches to integration in the western society. How far do the dogmatism in politics have an effect on the individual acting? Ter Heijne creates a brittled narration by combining fiction and documentation material. She uses it, in order to involve the spectator in instable realities. The art offers the required distance to everyday life which enables it to obtain the confrontation. (Heike Munder)

1900-1920's Memory Jugs Memory vessels were made by placing small everyday objects such as keys, screws and nails, glass vials, shells, nuts, and jewelry on the surface of bottles or ceramic jugs using putty, cement, or other adhesive material. Many of these folk art pieces were coated with gold or silver paint, and thus require especially close inspection to discern details; others were left plain so that each applied object was easily recognized. Several historical explanations have been put forth to explain who made memory jars, and why. One is that they have their origins in Southern Black communities, where they were placed in cemeteries for use as grave markers. The vessels were covered with objects which had belonged to the deceased for possible use in their afterlife. Another theory is that memory jugs or jars fit well into the “scrapbook mentality” that marked the Victorian era, in which sentimentality reigned, and decoration was abundant. Saving momentos of loved ones has universal appeal...the odd button, a single earring or other bit of jewelry that reminds one of the deceased relative. Another possibility is that it was a bad weather activity to while away the time, since “idle hands were the devils’ plaything”. Each of these theories has merit. We might never know for sure what the true origin of these folk art vessels is, but they continue to fascinate as remembrances of other times and other lives.

Photgraph mounted on aluminium