C.I.N.V.U, 2012

C.I.N.V.U magazine about loneliness, first released the 27th of June 2012.

On Sunday, July 1 at 12:00 pm at Athenaeum Nieuwscentrum on the Spui we will present C.I.N.V.U, a magazine about loneliness. The magazine and its presentation is a work of Christian van der Kaap (1989). For this presentation a large number of participants will attend and you are very welcome to come and witness!

An artwork in the form of a magazine about loneliness, that is C.I.N.V.U (pronounced: See I envy you). It started with an open call asking people to contribute to an 'image' (Dutch: beeld) of loneliness through texts, images, songs and messages of support. Not intended as an argument for or against loneliness, but rather to get an idea what loneliness can show us. The form of the magazine also contributes to that. Showing us the actuality but also our impermanence, a pile of glossy stapled paper reflecting our intrinsic desire.

However the magazine is only truly remarkable because of the countless contributions we received after putting out the call. Artists, photographers, writers, musicians and other makers appeared to grasp it's meaning, almost to the point of taking it for granted. It seems, the chasm of misunderstanding that is so characteristic of loneliness suddenly seemed to be bridged. Like never before showing the strong need to share solitude with everyone else

In this first issue of C.I.N.V.U, people from different generations look backwards and forwards to see what loneliness did or might do to them. Yet the magazine seems inadequate in asking the actual question what is really at stake between its creators and readers. It is this unbridgeable actuality that compels us to ask the same question over and over again. It may be clear that with this single issue the question won't be resolved. The hope, urgency, timeliness and the future of loneliness that arise from the first issue is asking for a sequel.

C.I.N.V.U is a 68 pages full-color glossy, published and distributed with the imprint of Medium by MER Paper Kunsthalle in Ghent. The circulation of the magazine is 2500 and lies in store for € 6.95.

Get the magazine online at: http://www.merpaperkunsthalle.org/projects/view/656

www.cinvu.nl

Freedom / Vulnerability, 2012

A marriage between Christian Albert Lucien van der Kaap, born 25.04.2989 in Enschede and Marina Elenskaya, 07/16/1983 born in Krasnodar, Russia in the English Reformed Church of the Begijnhof in Amsterdam 11.00 gather, 11.30 service

Making public that I was going to marry my girlfriend, people in my surrounding responded to telling us they wanted to be a part of it. A strange reaction in our opinion, because isn't marriage usually a bond between two people? Is the public present not merely a witness and apart from that share no active role in this. Why then their spontaneous reaction? I can only say how much I appreciate it and how it has inspired me as an artist to look at what this commitment means. How can our intimate promise inspire a community?

The 5th of may, Dutch liberation day it will be about belonging. Behind the busy Spui square, we will join in the Begijnhof to gather in silence. We let others speak, present and play to help us shape our intimate bond. It’s about freedom and vulnerability.

With: Margriet van der Kooi, Rory Pilgrim, UNDA foundation, Raphael Langmaier, Elsbeth Ciesluk, Isfrid Angard Siljehaug, and others

C.I.N.V.U | Magazine about loneliness

C.I.N.V.U. [si ay ɛn vi yu]

CALL: There are many magazines focussed on niche markets. Yet there isn't one of them dedicated to loneliness. That's about to change. You can work together with artist Christian van der Kaap to create an artwork in the form of a magazine that wants to show the creative force of loneliness. Do you feel addressed? Visit the website (Dutch only) and send your contribution to: parfumisme@gmail.com and include [C.I.N.V.U] in the subject header.

Univocally, 2012

The presentation Univocally is an investigation into the ethics of cooperation and a reflection on contemporary crafts. Finally not ambiguous and multi-interpretable title. Since my first solo exhibition (SOLO: the maker ain't so lonely as before, 2010) I have aimed to produce work conducted by others. Driven by the theme of loneliness, I have invited craftsmen to make work attributed to an insecure and unfamiliar situation. The voice of the craftsman which has become known as merely executive, is asked to reassert itselves in the arts and towards the viewer. The open dialogue between artist and maker produces an unpredictable voice that appeals to the public even though it might not be fully understood. As a result of an intimate collaboration in which I restored an old mould for a porcelain producer in Krasnodar, Russia a series of seven (of which six hand painted) bells are created. 'Univocally' expresses their understanding of the production process, where all employees are required to look in the same direction in order to deliver a successful product. Indicating my desire as an artist to enter into an existing production, we speak from one mouth and explore the form and sound of a bell. As a result, various voices inside and outside the arts together create a single presentation. A sound for those who like to relate to art but are uncertain about their contribution.

More Soon...

Vernacular Sculpture, 2011

Title: Height, Date of original production: 1960

Title: Girl sculpts a dove, Date of original production: unknown

Title: golden ass, Date of original production: 1964


During my residency in Krasnodar, Russia I got in contact with a small porcelain sculpture facility in the area. In difficult economical times the large porcelain sculpture factory 'Чайка' was forced to close. Well known for their objects for domestic use. Depicting leisuring workers, mothers and known stories. These guys got their hands on some of the old moulds left outside the factory. We agreed on a collaboration, in which they allowed me produce a new sculpture based on one of these master molds.

More Soon!

How sculpture can support us? / Slideshow

Evening Talk – How sculpture can support us? 03/07

Setting foot in florence for a field trip, which I planned to make a leather apron I got lost in a city people call Florence. Not truly lost, since as an artist I trained myself to do so and educated myself with a odd sense of orientation. One that at least keeps me occupied. And I remembered a phrase my mother uttered when she lost something in the house. Sint Antonius goede vrind maak dat ik mijn schoen weer vindt. Or: St Anthony my old friend, make my find my shoes again. For every single thing she lost, she'd call this divine providence to aid her in her search. I made myself to look for him, since I was suspicious of his strength. Every time I lost myself I would look for the presence of his image which was plentiful in the city and once I found him, I took a picture. Anthony I've been told, is the guardian of lost objects and I don't think lost souls.

Anthony comes in many forms. But in most cases I found him he looked away from us. Not the kind of looking away like the great heroins of the past, nor a gaze of humility or desperation But of a strange and almost amorphous kind. That is how I recognized him. Looking out for someone who, when I found him turned his look down, but his eyes up. A little autistic looking, asking for compassion with his situation but refusing to give a lot of insight in what that situation may be. With this strange unwanted unreachability he became the patron of (I read) many things, the poor, the baker, the traveller, the wedded and the feverish. And another thing I found was that he was always holding something. Unlike like many other sculptures which object they'd be holding signified their function, status or predicament. Anthony was always holding something else, making him much harder to identify. Sometimes it was baby jesus, sometimes a pendant, sometimes a plant and it was as though for everything he's holding, he's holding something back as well. This is how, I believe he quickly became the patron of lost things. [...]

When you sell the stuff you're fixing, 2011

When you sell the stuff you're fixing (sneak preview)

18/06 03/07 ZOLDER MUSEUM www.zoldermuseum.com

Opening 18/06 20:30

Special Thanks to:

_David Kaus and Denis French of the National Museum of Australia, Melbourne. For replying to my every enquiry about the 'interactive object from the indigenous section intended to give visitors some experience in using grinding stones.' (www.nma.gov.au)

_Ewa Perlejewska of Olctyn, Poland - Ceramist, Porcelain specialist

_Lanfranco Sernesi from Monaco Metropolitano of Florence, Italy. Traditional solutions to the contemporary needs of workers, students and travelers counting on the research for harmony to resolve any apparent contradiction (www.monacometropolitano.com)

_Mark Palmans from Atelier L'ombelico, Neerpelt, Belgium - Letterpress, roadsignals, cavedrawings, 3d chrome, afro art, references, contact (www.letterzetter.be)

Leer, 2011

As a succession to the SOLO project I visited Florence, Italy with the plan to make a fine leather apron with a craftsman. Accepting it as a gift I promised to commit myself to making again. I got captivated by the craft and the transformation of leather over time. I decided to order two 'identical' aprons. One made for wearing, the other for presenting.

The Guardian, 2011

I presented a number of works in the context of an evaluation at the academy. Another attempt the curate works in an exhibition. Each student invited up to five experts. An expert of your work can be a good friend, colleague from work, one you always wanted to show what you're up to or someone who works in a completely different discipline, but whose natural authority bridges that gap. These people are approached as exclusive guests of the exhibition. Making it into a special chance give ones work away in confidence. Given my interest in asking people to do things for me, I have seized this opportunity to invite my experts to speak about the history of sculpture in accordance to my work. In response to this invitation, they will became part of the work "The Guardian, 2011"

Opening 16th february 16.30. On show till 18.02.2011 in the exhibition 'And by the way, this picture has great significance because... in the KABK gallery

No Country for Old Men

An experimental glossy magazine about making dough. Consisting of a photo shoot where I asked two young fellow artists to knead dough in the bakery before the dawn. Zooming in on the physical aspects of making as moulding and re-moulding material. Reflecting on the time of preparation of the academy which would eventually lead to the professional side of "making dough" known in the English language as making money. These photographs spanned the timeline (beginning to end) of the magazine which was further filled with text contributions from close friends about making, craft and loneliness. The enigmatic title meant to propagate non-conformity to any given age, any given trade and any given place.

20.0 x 18.0 cm 40p. Edition of 500 free editions presented at Gerrit Rietveld Academy 07/2010.

My name is mine, 2009

ENSCHEDE – From being to becoming. About an act of necessity. About poverty and boredom but most of all about myself and what I don't understand. That one little less lonely day I purposefully vandalized the garage doors of my neighbours. On five of seven doors, which ungracious letters I had written my name since I could not find another word with meaning.

What while writing on every single door something in me changed. The very first letters being drawn were a little small but in a few strokes became bigger, abitious, blind and wild. Till I reached the fith and not the last door and atopped. When out of breath and with pain in my chest I realized the irrversibillity of my actions.

The meaning of my name is the consequence of my name. Thats why the neighbours hadn't take long to approve someone guilty. But see also that I was the first expression where I had shown myself five times larger than myself.

It was as if I had given away my name, for it to become something vulgar and hard and it resembled creases more than sings. And so I was confronted for the very first time with the temporality and value of art when my parents received the bill for repainting the garage doors.

And I do not now if I held myself responsible because I was convinced I was totally alone. Strangely capable of looking at myself with the nakedness of an object. That is my name.