Clean the Dirt
Installation, 2025
Prospects, Art Rotterdam
Curated by Elvis Gustavsson and Louise Bjeldbak
With support from Mondriaan Fonds
Acrylic One, glasvezel, textiel, textielverharder, was (kaars), hek, bamboe, papier, acrylpen / Acrylic A1, fiberglass, fabrics, textile gardener, candle wax, fence, bamboo, paper, acrylic pen
(From L to R)
Part 1: A vacuum cleaner with an upright pipe sucks in and cleans away the Rabbit God (Tu’er Shen).
Part 2: A willow branch pierces Guanyin’s* vessel, holding a marriage ball adorned with my own drawings of same-sex pornographic imagery.
Part 3: Enlarged replicas of mental hospital escape tools lie intertwined and entangled — none can dig a hole.
The installation is primarily made of acrylic A1, wrapped in layers of fragile, disposable toilet paper.
*Guanyin: The bodhisattva of mercy, who rescues beings from suffering.
Front: The mask on the vacuum cleaner was built layer by layer using paper, inspired by an ancient Chinese torture method — 贴加官 (Tiē jiā guān) — in which wet paper was placed over a person’s face, sheet by sheet, until they could no longer breathe.
Pic 1-2, by Tommy Smits