HomeHans Karelszoon Van Dijck

ABOUT  ROPE REPORT

The core content of this piece is closely related to the place of creation: Eichstätt, which is a small city in Bavaria, South-Germany. The area is historically related with lithography due to its hosting quarries of superb quality lithographic stones. But even more by a more or less famous inhabitant: Alois Senefelder. Senefelder was a writer of theatre plays at the turn of the 18th century who was looking for a more efficient way to reproduce his writings. This search brought him to the invention of lithography.

The core elements of the story of his life are theatre and print. These elements attributed to develop a certain Akt in public space.

A link with earlier (and later) themes in other works is the ‘human condition’ for acting, ‘drives’ and/or motives. It is obvious that the action of Rope Report –ropeskipping- is not driven by necessity/survival/nature. The intention for moving is on the level of training/preparing or playing/acting.

If this piece is to be categorised/named, it should be somewhere between performance and street art, or one can situate it simply as Plein-airism or Public drawing.

However the endresult is planned and specific: a print from the traces of the action will be made and is the core of the work of art.

A narrative video is made during the making of this lithograph, as well as photographs that are the material for a stop-motionfilm.

The ‘static’ work of art bearing the title ‘Rope Report’ exists in a few variations. Different lithographic prints exist –on long (Asian) papers containing the whole work or as separate pieces each on a sheet of (German) paper.

The print is presented preferably with the stop-motionfilm, most preferably projected on the printed sheet(s) of paper. A presentation manual is not given however as this work must be seen partially as research that led to certain results. These results can be re-interpreted by others.

Das Bild zeigt einen Arbeitsschritt auf dem Weg zur Installation "Rope Report" von Hans Karelszoon Van Dijck, Antwerpen im Sommer 2009. In Fortführung seiner "recordings" entstand in einem spielerischen Akt die Niederschrift mit dem druckfarbegeschwärzten Springseil auf drei Lithographiesteinen. Alois Senefelder, der als Schriftsteller von Theaterstücken zur Erfindung des Reproduktionsverfahrens Lithographie fand, ließ Van Dijck in dem aus seiner Litho-Aktion entstehenden Video "Rope Report" im Off zu Wort kommen. Van Dijcks "recordings" sind Niederschriften von Aktionen, die im druckgrafischen Medium ihr letztgültiges Realisat zeigen, "Rope Report" als Niederschrift des Homo Ludens. Die Ausstellungseröffnung am Ende Van Dijcks zweiwöchigen Künstleraufenthaltes stand im Rahmen von STADT FILM BILDER. Im siebenten Jahr konnte diese interdisziplinäre Reihe in Zusammenarbeit mit der Medienzentrale der Diözese Eichstätt stattfinden. Gezeigt wurden aus Anlaß der Einladung des belgischen Gastes Filme der "Belgischen Avantgarde von 1927 -- 37". Zwischen diesen und den zeitgenössischen Digitalfilmen von Karin Mels, Gent vermittelte der Vortrag eines Kunsthistorikers. Die Besucher am Veranstaltungsabend gewannen vielfältigen Einblick in historische und zeitgenössische belgische Avantgarde-Arbeiten mit dem Ausgangsort der Lithographie.

(Li Portenlänger)