Harmless citizens
Cover image: New York
Groupshow in De Appel 04.06-08.08.2004
Juul Hondius. ‘Harmless Citizens’
‘In modern Athens, the vehicles of mass transportation are called metaphorai. To go to work or come home, one takes a “metaphor” – a bus or a train.’
> quote by philosopher Michel de Certeau
‘In travelling you become aware, not so much of the differences, but rather of the uniformity, Hondius says. There are only minimal differences around the world: variants of the same image, the same story. Hondius wants to make the fundamental, archetypal image from which all other images can be derived. An image that everyone would be able to read, in which everyone can recognise him or herself: ‘That would be the greatest, if it would work.’ The means of public transport, which carries with it the slumbering impression of survival and (fateful) dependence, would seem to be the ideal vehicle for that endeavour. But beware: the first impression is misleading. The fate of the passengers is not so much in the hands of the chauffeur as it is in those of whoever is reading the image.’
> text extract by Ilse van Rijn for FOAM Magazine #18
Omsk
Moscow
Amman
Antigua
Moscow
Kyoto
Medan
Tokyo
Columbus
St.Petersburg
Bangkok
Gallery text De Appel, 2004
‘For De Appel, Hondius is showing a new series of photographs made during an unbroken period travelling through different parts of the world. Much of this time was spent in planes, trains, boats and busses, where he photographed his fellow passengers, resulting in photographs of people in transit. What we mainly notice in these photographs is the isolated world that the traveller finds himself during his journey. Through the unequivocal way he treats light, certain characteristics of place and time disappear, with the result that images become exchangeable. In making this subtle intervention the artist demonstrates that travelling is a universal fact.’
Assignment for Atelier Rijksgebouwendienst ‘Kunst in de Hoftoren’. Department of Education, Culture & Science / Ministerie van OCW 2004