[lwptoc]
Deep in the water
A carp dreaming
Location: Headoffice Patrizia Pepe
Date: 2002
Solo exhibition
Grazie: Vittoria Ciolini, Patrizia Bambi, Claudio Orrei
The Dutch artist Connie Dekker presents a new work at the factory of Patrizia Pepe at Capalle, Florence.
It is a special project for the entrance hall of the factory that establish a new communication between the existing space and the work of art.
In the hall a monumental stairway rises from three travertine circles on the floor.
Flowing upward in a semi-circle from this base, it connects the first floor to the second. The work is installed inside the space created by the semi-circular stairway, which in this building almost functions as an umbilical cord. And here, in this sheltered yet open space, the narrating, conceptual, imaginary and literal threads of the work unfold.
Dekker’s installation is a dress, one in a series of works. This particular dress focuses upon the sash that enfolds an empty feminine silhouette. At the back this sash undulates down onto the floor, spreading out into a big circle. At the hem of the circle a text is embroidered: Deep in the water, softly moving his fins, a carp, dreaming (derived from a haiku by Kyoroku, 1655-1715).
In the works of Connie Dekker the dress looses its primary function of covering the body, instead it takes on the capacity of showing us other places and other times. By using the text and the embroidery as means of a way to transform time, she wants to arrive at the concept of a “flexible time”. Thus exploring the subtle line where infinity and limited time are divided and united.
The sash of the dress is based on a Japanese obi, a part of the traditional costume. Often the Japanese costume is referring to nature. And in many ways the dress, the sash and the circle remind us of natural elements.
The embroidery and the folded sash undulating into a flat circle turn the entire work and its actual context into a metaphor for water, symbol of instability and transformation.
The environment and the work of art unite themselves in a movement between two extremities. We see the stairway going up and in its embrace stands the accurate and intermediary gown. Taking us deep into the water.
Hans Kloos (poet)
