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Studiolo Planetario / Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen

 

Studiolo Planetario
Rotterdam, Netherlands. 2022
Unpacking Boijmans, Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen

 
 

For the exhibition ‘Unpacking Boijmans’ we imagined a dynamic display, reflecting the desire to address the relation between the city of Rotterdam, the depot’s collection itself, the visitors, and the country’s colonial history. We thought of a space in between scales, in part a “studiolo” - an enclosed chamber through which to peek at others, sit next to artworks and restorers, where to immerse oneself in the projects, and question their relation to each other, and to the visitors - and in a part “planetario” - a place where we observe the movement of other bodies, and constantly reassess an idea of centrality. As we orbit around the display, artwork looks back at us, other visitors appear framed as portraits or reflected in a single image along with vases, paintings, or crystals. In turn, everybody becomes a part, as well as an author, of the space, always part of someone else’s picture and field of view. We imagined a place of soft and hard surfaces: a textile framing the studiolo, and a vast table, itself composed of various islands. Mirrored and brushed surfaces reflect the work along with people looking at it, while everyone, including the artwork, revolves around each other in a game of crossing gazes and changing frames - a sort of orrery with no center.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

TEAM Giovanni Bellotti and Alessandra Covini with Pedro Daniel Pantaleone and Konstantin Beck CLIENT Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen CURATOR Alexandra van Dongen PRODCTION Tomaello, Showtex SKETCHES Giovanni Bellotti PHOTOS Lotte Stekelenburg