In collaboration with Ludmila Rodrigues

The work of Baalman and Rodrigues departs from the experience of seafaring, examining its social and technological features to create a multisensory experience inside the Soulangh’s exhibition hall. The artists attempt to blend methods of kite flying with the 17th century sailing technologies that brought distant cultures closer together.

While land and water can be subjected to territorialization, thus becoming objects of geopolitical dispute, the winds cannot be easily measured, or controlled, neither claimed by any state. Air, blast, breeze, gale, gust… As a force of nature, the wind can be a beneficial energy source, or a pleasant breeze in the hot days; however, in extreme weather conditions, the wind can be dangerous and a fatal agent of disaster, during tempests, cyclones and so forth. Wind cannot be tamed, it doesn’t follow any human regulations. We can only learn to collaborate with it.

In the 17th century, both the Chinese and the Dutch took an interest in the Tainan area and whoever could hold the wind in their hands had a strategic advantage. The technologies of the ships, the shapes of their hulls, the design and rigging of the sails were different between the Asian junks and the European ships (e.g. brigantines and fully rigged ships). Thus the diverse ships could catch the wind in different ways.

Marije Baalman gives continuity to the work V.L.I.G. (vliegen, liggen in gedachten) presented as a video installation (recorded on the beach of Anping) at Soulangh in the exhibition Sails Sugar, Silicon (2022). This year in collaboration with Ludmila Rodrigues, she expands her work with kites into a multi-sensory spatial installation. Together the artists have created an experience that encompasses sound, image, movement, and air flows.

The public is invited to walk through the space and actively listen to the sonic composition inspired by the action of the wind on an old sailing ship. On one hand the artists have chosen to work with natural materials, striving to learn techniques of the era of the sailing vessels. On the other hand, they utilize electronics to activate the installation and orchestrate sensations as in a hybrid environment.

credits

  • Artists: Marije Baalman & Ludmila Rodrigues
  • Curator: Wen Chin Fu
  • Production: iii and Siao Long Cultural Park
  • Special thanks to: Architecture Heritage Materials Vault, Chen Yu-jung, Mike Rijnierse

iii was funded by Creative Industry Fund NL in the regulation 4-jarige instellingen 2021-24.

photos by Andrew 徹*

photos by Marije Baalman