Ondertussen: Arianne Olthaar

14 February thru 29 March 2009
Location: Hogewal 1-9

The former reception area of Stroom has been converted into a small exhibition space. On a regular basis there are presentations of artists who have received a subsidy in the categories Stroom PRO- and SPOT-grants. The informal exhibitions and presentations are intended to illustrate the diversity of the Stroom grant system. The program in the space is called Ondertussen (Meanwhile).

Arianne Olthaar is fascinated by the transience of the ideals and design of the ‘60s and ‘70s. Her main focus is on public interiors which were designed with a special purpose in mind. Interiors which had a specific modernity at the time they were created, but which in this present day and age seem rather dated and will soon be demolished or renovated .
 
For a number of years now Arianne Olthaar has focused her attention on the indoor living quarters of apes, which at the time were designed in the innovative style of ‘bathroom achitecture'. Huge walls of glass cover relatively small, tiled living quarters. The spaces are sterile, well-organized and include a minumum of extras: an elevated area to sit on, stainless steel frames for climbing. The animals do not have much privacy; it is almost impossible to hide from the stares of the visiting public.
 
In preparation for the project Arianne Olthaar visited various European zoos to capture their indoor animal living quarters on photo, video and film. This was the basis for a series of models and a short film. In the Ondertussen space Olthaar presents three of the models and the short film, plus a number of photographs which were used as research material.

Free poster
Arianne Olthaar offers each visitor a free poster of the demolition of the chimpanzee living quarters in Berlin Zoo (October 2007).
 
The models Frankfurt am Main 2, Antwerp and Berlin 2 have been exhibited at Camouflash in Dresden (Unoactu) and the Mediations Biennial in Poznan, 2008, with the financial support of a Stroom SPOT exhibition-subsidy.
 
The film 'Binnenverblijven' was made possible by The Netherlands Film Fund.

Archive Ondertussen presentations

photo: Arianne Olthaar
photo: Arianne Olthaar
photo: Arianne Olthaar
photo: Arianne Olthaar
photo: Arianne Olthaar