The performance and sculpture Pre-Remains is situated between a sacrifice and an homage where present, past and future intermingle. The Great War’s uniforms formed the fundament for the costumes. The costumes were assembled from the uniforms of the opposing parties at war. Crème-coloured woollen army blankets were used for the men’s, the women’s and the horses’ costumes. The women were highly decorated with Great War medals made of fabric.
The audience could barely see anything whilst entering the performance venue. Guards guided them to different parts of the room. The audience was left in the dark for approximately five minutes, they could only hear and smell the horses. The lights went on and after five motionless minutes the four Haflinger* horses were guided to slowly move forward, each in an opposite direction. The opposing but similar powers first came to a point of new motionless the enduring diametrically opposed power ripped the horses’ costume apart.
Since the blankets were stripped of their colour by cutting out the original red; good and bad became less obvious. As a result aggression can be approached in an aesthetic manner.
*Halfingers originate from Austria-Hungary, the ’starting point’ of the Great War. The Haflingers were often used in the battles of the Great War.
Pre-Remains was part of the triple solo show ‘Vooralsnog zijn witten gaten niet waargenomen’ in De Nederlandsche Cacaofabriek, Helmond. I invited Wypke Jannette Walen and Wouter Venema to join.
Even more Pre-Remains?
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Martin van der Laar mentioned Pre-Remains as most memorable in his 20 years Cacaofabriek.
Lucette ter Borg, September 2009, Marieke Coppens wankelt niet meer.
Jan Dietvorst, September 2009, Spektakel met Noodzaak.
Eindhovensdagblad, 7 september 2009, Over stilte, reizen en paarden