Nostalgia is only interesting, not if it recalls old times, but if it creates something new that tells us something about our own time. All artists taking part in Happy Like Yesterday_, presently at Nest, seem to be very well aware of that fact.
The exhibition also shows us how quickly our daily technological life is changing. It takes only a few years to be outdated.
Centrally staged in the show is a plastic copy of the bust of the Doryphoros with bronze coloured silly putty over it by Roman Štětina.
It is surrounded by three video’s by the same artist showing the artistry and craft of obsoleteness,
connecting it with Joep van Liefland’s old fashioned video library,
full of equipment for video tapes.
But there is more apart from this well composed ensemble. In another room Harold de Bree presents his rebuilt creature from the 1982 movie Tron.
It stands as a gate in the room and offers a view to the centre of the show.
That’s different with Yves Scherer’s three works in a darkened room.
The works, well presented and intriguing as they are, are more hermetic for those who don’t follow the artist’s ideas immediately.
Ingmar König’s works refer to the decrease of hard physical labour in present day society.
Such physical labour is substituted by voluntary hard physical exertion.
Though the exhibition shows some very interesting works and thoughts, there is also a sense of the five artists standing with their backs toward each other.
The centrally presented works seem to be in some kind of dialogue with each other, but there is not a strong sense of one theme in the show. However, the works themselves are very interesting, so don’t hesitate to go and have a look.
[Click on the pictures to enlarge]
Content of all pictures courtesy to the artists and Nest.
Bertus Pieters
