Duurzaamheid en klimaat

The Heavy Loads of Our World

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Gigantic container ships enter port every day. You would not directly associate these ships with our consumption behavior. The harbor is the only place where all the stuff we buy comes together. Ships and containers are an expression of globalization. They are the reason behind your cheap T-shirt and discounted television. Ironically, the camera I work with also comes from this mass economy. But who looks behind the TV and sees the ship that brought it? How ironic that the more ships have grown in size and consequence, the less space they take up in our imagination.

9 private companies on earth dictate how our economy is shaped and there is a big chance
you haven’t heard of them. Everyone is concerned about working conditions, so we want to buy ethically responsible products. But how responsibly are these goods shipped? Are economies of scale actually achievable with these gigantic container ships?

“The Heavy Loads of Our World” consists of a series of photos and a video in which I try to expose an invisible industry, their way of shaping the global economy and reflect on our own consumption behaviors.

Artist statement

Hidden worlds.
Places which are hard to access or only visible from a distance.
An urge to discover what lies beneath the surface.
Illuminating an ever more complex world into something manageable.
Arranging it in grids to create an overview.
A last connection to the past that provides guidance into the future.

Ambitions

I want to be able to teach, so I will go back to school after my graduation. But I also want to continue my own practice and creating my own projects. In about 5 years I see myself working parttime at a school or art related business to have enough money for my own projects.

Learned during the studies

One of the most important things I've learned during my study period is that it's okay to make mistakes and change opinions. I used to be fairly precise and still am to a certain degree. I don't think it's bad to have a certain standard you want to achieve, but you also have to acknowledge when things are good enough. That also counts for opinions. It's okay to change and see things in another way and acknowledge you've been wrong.