gerlach en koop
Circumference, circumference
2010
Cast belt holes, porcelain
0,7 x 0,3 cm and 0,3 x 0,5 cm
Edition of 15 plus 2 AP
Eu 1.000 (excluding VAT and shipping)
gerlach en koop
Founded in 2000
Live and work in The Hague, the Netherlands and Brussels, Belgium
The elusive sculptural and conceptual work of gerlach en koop involves modifying, displacing or copying ordinary objects with subtle, almost invisible gestures. This approach begins with their name (always in lowercase): the moniker actually denotes two Dutch artists who prefer to be called a ‘collective artist’ rather than an ‘artist duo’ in order to distance themselves from their individual identities.
Because the length of a straightened paperclip from Concessions? Never make any. equals the difference in length between gerlach en koop, I assume that this work is about their respective width, or girth and that the cast belt holes are indeed the holes they both used. The two small porcelain objects are on the table in front of me. When I trace my pen along the edges, the initial letters of the title Omtrek, omtrek appear on the paper: O, o. Capital letter and lower case. Only in Dutch of course, in English I have to stop right before completing the circle: C, c.
The holes are the end point, but without a fixed start nothing is measured, there is no girth at all. Just like the mark marking someone’s length means nothing without a door frame, a hole without a belt and buckle means nothing too. Even the difference in size only says something about the size of the buckle used. Circumference, circumference is nothing but circled absence.