Jonathan van Doornum –Faithful Folly (2023)

Jonathan van Doornum (b. Mariënberg, NL, 1987, lives and works in Zwolle (NL)) is presenting an enigmatic installation at De Oude Warande. In this work, a game takes place with repeating metal shapes that have an industrial feel, combined with coloured elements that take their form from nature.

The series of aluminium arches forms a corridor curling around a six-metre-high mast that is reminiscent of an antenna, for transmitting signals or receiving them from elsewhere. With this ‘transmitter station’, Van Doornum is responding to developments in communications technology, such as the introduction of 5G internet. The shorter distance that 5G signals can travel means that the necessary transmission masts will appear in more and more locations. Like other functional objects in our environment, these are often devoid of detail and ornamentation. Van Doornum, however, features ornaments prominently. He sees his sculpture ‘as an experimental thinking model of a future in which digital technology and a distinct aestheticisation come together to combat the inhumanity brought about by the digital revolution.’ With this approach, he is referring back to ideas such as those of the nineteenth-century Arts and Crafts movement, which arose as a counter-reaction to the mass production enabled by the Industrial Revolution. An emphasis on the importance of ornamentation can also be seen in the material: over time, corrosion will dull the untreated aluminium, while the green ornaments will retain their lustre as a result of the electrolytic colour treatment (anodisation). The wood used in the work was gathered at De Oude Warande and will be returned to the park after the exhibition.

Thoughts about interpersonal contact, the objects that make such contact possible, and the creation of historical connections are often reflected in Van Doornu0m’s poetic sculptures and installations. They frequently carry a promise of interaction or a suggestion of actions that have taken place.

Faithful Folly was developed specially for Eartheaters. This work not only draws our attention to the physical infrastructure underlying the digital environments in which many of us increasingly reside but also offers a proposal for a physical place of refuge to which humans can retreat.