Guilty Landscapes
episode I Hangzhou
episode II Port-au-Prince
episode III Homs
episode IV Pattaya
What initially appears to be a pre-recorded video of a troubled zone somewhere in the world turns out to be a live internet connection. While the museum visitor moves about the space, the person at the other end gazes back at them, mirroring their movements, with no display of moral judgment. The protagonist seems barely, if at all, affected, by the assumed misery and appears to downplay his apparent role of victim.
Instead of addressing the issues of the specific location, the work focuses on the viewing experience. It problematizes the viewer’s attitude to ‘the pain of others’ and the assumptions and power relations implicit in that gaze.
episode I Hangzhou
episode II Port-au-Prince
episode III Homs
episode IV Pattaya
What initially appears to be a pre-recorded video of a troubled zone somewhere in the world turns out to be a live internet connection. While the museum visitor moves about the space, the person at the other end gazes back at them, mirroring their movements, with no display of moral judgment. The protagonist seems barely, if at all, affected, by the assumed misery and appears to downplay his apparent role of victim.
Instead of addressing the issues of the specific location, the work focuses on the viewing experience. It problematizes the viewer’s attitude to ‘the pain of others’ and the assumptions and power relations implicit in that gaze.
Video
Press
"A strong feature of the work is that you are attributed the role of voyeur upon arrival, but that a little later that position gently tilts. Just looking doesn't seem like an option [...]"
'Shoes off, gestures the man in his underpants' ('Schoenen uit, gebaart de man in onderbroek'), Hagar Schuringa for NRC (10-11-2021)read the review (in Dutch)
"Staging spectators in immersive performances' Theresa Schütz relates "Guilty Landscapes, episode II” to the concepts of Nicolas Bourriaud and Judith Butler on relational aesthetics and the act of framing."
'Staging spectators in immersive performances', Routledge, 2019read the article (in English)
"Guilty Landscapes brought ambivalence and anxiety, curiosity and empathy, smiles and sorrow, shock and indifference."
'The Lady In The Factory In Hangzhou' (translated from Greek). Maria Katsounaki for www.kathimerini.gr (08-07-2018).read the translated review (in English)read the review (in Greek)
"His work is not elitist and the viewer is implicated in the work as he/shewitnesses it."
'Guilty Landscapes : A new challenge by Dries Verhoeven at Athens Festival.' Alexandros Diakosavvas for www.lifo.gr (03-05-2018).read the translated review (in English)read the review (in Greek)
"In this and other works I try to encourage an audience to question the prefabricated frames with which they meet the protagonists of the news, both the supposed perpetrators, as the alleged victims."
'Dries Verhoeven: Επιχειρώ να αναστατώνω τις ηθικές πυξίδες των θεατών', an interview with Verhoeven by Faye Tzanetoulakou for Culturenow.gr (22-06-2018).read the translated interview (in English)read the review (in Greek)
"(…) the interaction is all-important here. The shock Verhoeven delivers the viewer (only one visitor may enter the installation at a time) is massive, and so are the after-effects."
‘Slow, intriguing film and poetry at the Oerol Festival’, Ron Rijghard for NRC (13-06-2017).read the review (in Dutch)
"Did I feel pity, shame or admiration? After all she looked proud and happy, not anxious or tormented. Not exactly a victim."
'Dance with you secretly', ('Stiekem met je gedanst'), Annette Embrechts in De Volkskrant (20-10-2016)read the article (in Dutch)
"Guilty Landscapes offers visitors an experience that is moving yet at the same time daunting and where visitors are made aware of the empathic line usually drawn between people and their appearance or environment – before they become permeated by illusion."
'Abschied mit«Uncertainty»', Anja Quikert in Theater heute, p.31 (30-09-2016)read the article (in German)
"With his work the Dutch artist Dries Verhoeven scratches where it hurts, because that is the purpose of art".
'Disruption is the goal' ('Ontregeling is het doel'), Journalist Evelyne Coussens interviewed Verhoeven for the Flemish newspaper De Morgen (28-09-2016)read the article (in Dutch)
"As simple as it is refined, as deceptive as it is genuine. (...) Your feelings of guilt are jolted by the unexpected proximity during this first episode of Verhoeven’s series Guilty Landscapes."
'Minimum movement, maximum impact', Annette Embrechts for the Volkskrant (21-05-2016)read the review (in Dutch)
"Verhoeven’s moving film installation (...), as short as it is, is already one of the best experiences at the fourth edition of the fusion festival."
'Moving film installation by Dries Verhoeven at Spring', Francine van der Wiel for NRC Handelsblad (23-05-2016)read the review (in Dutch)
"This first episode is a short but impressive meeting in which Verhoeven unravels the role of the viewer – not only within the context of this video performance but on a wider scale."
'Going beyond transience', Sander Janssens for Theaterkrant.nl (20-05-2016)read the review (in Dutch)
"The meeting should toss gratuitous assumptions overboard, or in any case, provide nuances."
'Theatre that confronts you with disasters', Joke Beeckmans for NRC Handelsblad (18-05-2016)read the article (in Dutch)
"We wish to stay longer in front of the image in which betrayel is involved"
An article in Il Manifesto about the Festival in Santarcangelo (20-07-2019)read the article (in Italian)
radio and television
Podium on Tour – NTR (21-08-2016)
Andrew Makkinga made an item for the tv-program Podium on Tour, after having seen the installatie on Boulevard Theatre Festival in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.
view the item (from 13:13) (in Dutch)
Nooit meer slapen (No more sleep) – VPRO Radio (18-05-2016)
During the VPRO radio program ‘Nooit meer slapen’, the guest decides the topic of conversation by means of drawing cards with challenging questions. There is only one condition: answer honestly. Verhoeven spoke about the video installation Guilty Landscapes on the verge of SPRING Festival 2016.
context
“People sometimes ask me about the how and why of a work. But when I hear myself talking, I realise that which is ambiguous in the piece suddenly seems unambiguous through my words, too simple, maybe even a veiled appeal for approval”.
Verhoeven decided to keep his mouth shut more often and share texts that have inspired him in the creative process or writings by journalists/writers reflecting on the work itself. Viewers who want clarification could possibly be guided on their way by these texts.
Visitors of Guilty Landscapes were offered two fragments of ‘Regarding the pain of others’ by Susan Sontag or a text by the Dutch journalist/author Dirk Vis, ‘Sharing the pain of Avatars’.
Credits
concept Dries Verhoeven
production Studio Dries Verhoeven
video registration Thorsten Alofs and Christopher Hewitt
Guilty Landscapes is made possible thanks to the Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds / Het Zilveren Lint Fonds and VSBfonds.