17 | Hans Overvliet | Vleeshal | Lost #8 | catalogus

So You Don't Get Lost in the Neighborhood Vleeshal | Middelburg | 30/04/2017 www.hansovervliet.com

Cover ©Photo W. van der Ven Back side | distant suffering XIII | i.d. of shared distortion | 2017 Exhibition Cultuurcentrum Bugge | Biekorf | Les Refugés | 27/04/2017 –27/05/2017 5 A3 full colour prints on Innova Smooth Cotton Hight White 315 grs. mounted on 10 mm. Kapafix

With the production of the art-series distant suffering, Hans Overvliet questions the role of the media consumer, yet equally his own role as an artist. By constructing these works of existing media images, Overvliet allows us to view these images through an entirely differrent lens. Most often, the artist’s intended themes include the multiplicity of visual culture and its mindless consumption.

Overvliet’s works ask the spectator to gaze intently at them, in order to instigate in the viewer a new awareness of the images around them.

Julia MuliĂŠ , Assistant Curator Vleeshal, Middelburg, 28/11/2016

Justification

The work of distant suffering is about art, violence, war & destruction as presented in media production, media consumption, fading remembrance, my role as a media consumer, pity versus empathy, ownership of the event and its documentation.

The title of distant suffering derives from the book Distant Suffering, Morality, Media and Politics by Luc Boltanski – indeed the brother of.

The exhibitions of distant suffering are also about questioning the safety of the art space and the role of the art producer& the art consumer.

The poetry in distant suffering is inspired by Kahlil Gibran, especially his poem from The Garden of The Prophet : Pity the nation divided into fragments, each fragment deeming itself a nation.

The transition into art is inspired by the Dutch Artist Armando: “It is the beauty of evil, ‘die Schönheit des Bösen’, located in the belly of the evil, looking for a place in the wake of evil in order to show himself to me, although it doesn’t amuse me at all. This beauty calls me to transfer the ‘evil’ into the innocent, because amoral domain the art.”

distant suffering I syrian skies - 1,000 days - 2014 Daraya, January 16 2013 Damascus, February 21 2013 Damascus, April 302013 Yabroud, May 17 2013 Damascus, July 30 2013 Daraa, August 27 2013 Province of Idlib, August 30 2013 Saraqeb, September 4 2013 Binnish, Idlib, September 5 2013 Ariha, September 7 2013 Daraya, October 15 2013 Ma’arrat al-Numan, November 15 2013 Aleppo, December 9 2013 Damascus, December 22 2013 Aleppo. December 21 2013

12 prints A4, Canon MP-101 mat photo paper 170 grams, Canon Pixma MG6150 printer mounted on 10 mm. foam board

distant suffering II anatomy of a cloud [ gaza ] - 2015

5 x [ 82,2 x 12,8 cm.]

Colourprint on HahnemĂźle German Etching 310 grs. on 10 mm. Dibond .

distant suffering III may 18 2012 | july 31 2014 | april 5 2015

Platters Ă˜ 45 cm. | clay: Creaton 480, 1100 0C | glazing: Botz Weiss | 18 may 2012 Video including the sound of the crushing platter & video still | 31 july 2014 Print: German Etching 240 grs. | 65 x 65 cm. on 10 mm. Kapafix

distant suffering IV documentation of a cloud | 2015

the Syrian town Kobane / Ain al-Arab, observed from the south-east side of the Turkish village Mursitpinar / Mürşitpınar [ 36° 54' 14" North, 38° 20' 52" East ] in the Sanliurfa region Monday, October 20, 2014

3 prints on Dibond, 3 x 10 cm. 1 print on Dibond, 5 x 5 cm., 2015

photo | Bulent Kilic | AFP Photo

photo | Gokhan Sahin | Getty Images

photo | Kai Oliver Pfaffenbach | Reuters

DISTANT SUFFERING

VII | i.d. of a shared cloud VIII | i.d. of a shared wave IX | i.d. of a shared home -2545506 | -3502710 | 37SFA5764372293

3 ‘out-lines’ of filing cabinets, each 134 cm. x 49,5 cm. x 71 cm. [ h x w x d ]

Material

weathering steel 2x [ 10 x 10 mm.] 1x [ 12 x 12 mm.], wooden bars 1 x 1 cm., Nobo OHP Transparency Film, sided acid-free tape

Filled with

1,000 images of explosions and ‘holiday clouds’ on 50 sheets codes super imposed on the images: unique location positioning from a military open source website; 1,000 images of waves | statistics Global Warming on 50 sheets; 1,000 images of destroyed houses | ground plans in the images: send to me - in 1996 on my request – from and of 72 national libraries The World Library Art Project on 50 sheets

Giel Louws | text about the triptych | July 2014

Distant Suffering, grief elsewhere. One of the major side effects of our information society is that we are bombarded by images and in-formation about the suffering of fellow human beings around the world. In order to process this amount of images we have accumulated many protection mechanisms. One side of this mechanism is to avoid or to look away, the other side is cynicism.

The series Distant Suffering of Hans Overvliet cuts right through these mechanism. In a symbolic triptych of air, water and fire, we are brought into contact with sorrow at bay. Not only in the sense that it is far from our bed, but proper distance is also kept to the subject.

Three times a thousand images from the media, which are available to everyone.

In I.D. or a Shared Cloud we see with our artistic eye a thousand Dutch romantic skies, but with our belly, we know that we are looking at explosives. A subtle text super imposed in the image refers to a military website used to identify the site of the disaster.

In I.D. or a Shared Wave we see a thousand waves, again we think of romantic seascapes, of vacation of surfers. The graphs which are intertwined, again indicate that we need to think further.

Than we know that we are watching a rising sea levels, indicated by graphs linking the waves with the statistics of rising water in several places on the world map.

I.D. or a Shared Home shows us a thousands of ruins, and if we keep thinking 19th-century follies it would fit in with the romantic imagery. But we now know that no one here is fooled, this is the reality in its crudest form.

Yet there is also a glimmer of hope; these homes are layered with a map of a national library. A map reminds me not only of wholeness, the idea of collecting and storing of knowledge, notifies hope on learning.

This idea is in my opinion one of the basic principles of this work.

distant suffering XII i.d. of a shared key #4

153 scoured biscuit tins with keyprint in plaster, mounted on a black painted plate 137,5 x 58,5 x 32,5 cm. [ h x d x d ]

distant suffering XIII i.d. of shared distortion | 2016 - 2017

A2 full colour print on Innova Smooth Cotton Hight White 315 grs. mounted on 10 mm. Kapafix Next page: work in progress: in cooperation with TextielLab Eindhoven to be transformed into a rug

exhibitions | acknowledgment

Willem3 | Vlissingen | 05/04’14 – 06/04/’14

Bianca Runge

W45 kunstruimte | Goes | 06/09/’14 – 27/09/’14 George Schade | Tom van den Berge Mon Capitaine | Middelburg | 05/04/’15 – 26/04/’15 Harry Vandevliet | Kees de Valk | Marischka Duinkerken AFFAF | Café Spoorzicht – Arnemuiden | 9-10/10/’15 Ko de Jonge | Giel Louws | Roos Gortzak, de Vleeshal (WOOT) | Antwerp | 10/10 ’15 – 28/11/’15 Frie & Jen Gossé Mon Capitaine | Middelburg | 01/11/’15 – 24/01/’16 Harry Vandevliet | Kees de Valk | Marischka Duinkerken | S.B.K.M. Middelburg platters: Frank Åsnes | Yvette Lardinois – video & stills Ramon de Nennie Exhibition in the public space of Middelburg | 21/04/16 Willy van Houtum | Ria de Feijter | Rinus Roepman studio seven | Vlissingen | 01/05/’16 – 12/05/’16

Dani Ploeger

Art Gouda | het Weeshuis – Gouda | 02/06/’16 – 05/06/’16 Trude Linde | Rolf van der Mije | Wendy Speksnijder | Kris van der Hart Gerard Kleijn, director Museum Gouda | Frank Taal, Galerie Frank Taal, Rotterdam Biënnale Amersfoort | Vreemde Gasten | 1 & 2 oktober 2016 Dhr J. [Jan ] Louws | construction out-linekasten

Vreemde Gasten: Aad van der Werf | Alie van de Wolfshaar | Andrea Scharroo

Theater De Fransche School | Culemborg | 23/10/’16 My country - Israël I Palestine – film, debate and dialogue Peter Steutel | Jan Goed [ organisation ] N8vdN8 | Middelburg | 31/10/2016

Huibert-Jan Vader

Cultuurcentrum Bugge | Biekorf | Les Refugés | 27/04/2017 –27/05/2017

Jan Verhaeghe

So You Don't Get Lost in the Neighborhood Vleeshal | Middelburg | 30/04/2017 Roos Gortzak | Yana Foque Warm thanks to

Giel Louws | Willy van Houtum | Dani Ploeger | Jen Gossé & Robbert Jan Swiers, people with whom reciprocity always is in the heart of our discours.

It's not a case of telling the truth Some lines just fit the situation Call me a liar You would anyway The Cure | Play For Today | 1980

So You Don't Get Lost in the Neighborhood Vleeshal | Middelburg | 30/04/2017 www.hansovervliet.com