articles, essays and papers

• Didier Mathieu   » in the thick of life «
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  'sitting in the train from arnhem to frankfurt' is a short text herman de vries wrote in 1973. i particularly like the black and white text and the grey areas it treats. the subject is movement; a train's journey from arnhem to frankfurt, with chance movements seen through the carriage window; ponies, snowflakes, a crow and even shifting thoughts. passing wagon-loads of coal are seen as energy in transit, life on the move: [...] "'chance & change', i wrote in my notebook, 4th july 1970, in teheran, on the road from arnhem to bombay and the seychelles, to buy there with friends an island, to live there. the island is not bought. chance & change - change and chance."
• herman de vries evoked movement, flux and change as early as 1968 in a text called de lijnen. "lines are like dams in water. the eye is forced to climb over them as if they were obstacles. it can also skirt round as water does. alternatively one can follow the line or walk along the dam noting changes in the surrounding environment. indeed the eye's position is an observation point wilt respect to the water's surface. a line is therefore like a series of 'argument points'" [wittgenstein's argumenstellen]. "following it, going around or climbing over it, imply a change of perspective and viewpoint."
• seen from here. herman de vries settles his gaze upon the world around him. things seen, absorbed - everything within his ken - becomes fodder and fuel for his work.
  "meaning is visible everywhere" he concluded in his text in der landschaft [in the landscape] [3] and the words of his exposition complète de luang-prabang poster were even more explicit; "poésie actuelle. exposition complète de luang-prabang comprenant tous les éléments de paysage de ville et tous les objets, vivants et morts de la région de luang-prabang. l'exposition est ouverte tous les jours, par tous les temps à continuer partout et par tous" [poetry now. complete exhibition of luang-prabang including all elements of the town landscape and all things both alive and dead in the region of luang-prabang. the exhibition is open every day come wind or shine and continues everywhere with everyone].
  each point of view constitutes a slice of reality in the thick of life.
  in each book that herman de vries publishes, makes or edits, he unveils and helps us discover this vision of life. we are free to share it, to see or not see it. publishing could be defined as making something public or well-known and herman de vries' books and publications are clearly works involved in communication and relationships.
• "and [i] looked, looked around me, as often before" looking from where you are is precisely the theme of three of his publications: catalogue incomplète d'exposition complète de luang-prabang, a random sample of my visual chances, 18-1-1975, look out of any window (1973) and les très riches heures de herman de vries, a project dating from 1982 and published in 2004.
  on the 18th january 1975, herman de vries wandered through the town of luang prabang and produced thirty-five photographs which became part of his catalogue incomplète d'exposition complète de luang-prabang, a random sample of my visual chances, 18-1-1975 between 13.21 and 15.33 p.m. timing, place and angle of each shot were determined by a set of random paradigms thus producing multiple and varied views. contrasting with the inherent mobility of this piece, look out of any window proceeds from a static stance, the work consisting of windows seen from inside rooms at his house in eschenau. even more static are the 131 photos in les très riches heures de herman de vries, all taken within the span of four hours from a restricted spot in the middle of undergrowth in a forest just outside eschenau. the principle of permanence (of place...) here seems to coalesce with that of mobility. [continued >>>>]
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