Rotterdam The Hague Canal Log, ongoing
Since the early spring of 2020, Van der Kooy has been working together with photographer Rubén Dario Kleimeer on a portfolio of urban landscapes that depicts how the residents of the Rotterdam The Hague Metropolitan Area (MRDH) adapt to, and occupy the space around them. Their fieldwork takes them along the ancient waterway of the Delfshavense Schie, the Delftse Schie, the RijnSchie Canal and ends at the Zuidvliet and De Haagse Trekvliet.
The landscapes become a means to frame and identify the significant relationship between (popular) culture and the land. Formed as much by natural forces as by the human knowledge that encompasses them, they are continuously in flux. In their series they pick up traces of narratives that not only reflux the vertical of the time axis back through past times, but also see a lot of surprisingly concrete motifs in the current horizontal. An ironic undertone and social engagement are used as instruments of cultural criticism.
Parallel to their combined photo series, philosopher Pieter Hoexum wanders throughout the area, writing and reflecting on the changing knowledges, attitudes and values as seen through the photographs. This adds an extra narrative element to the story; not about the flamboyant front, not the extraordinary, but the infra-ordinary, the “oblique glance" (G. Perec). Discovering landscape is a good exercise for body and for mind. This portfolio is a guide and companion to that exercise—to understanding, literally and figuratively, what the MRDH is.
in progress...
supported by:
Stichting Droom en Daad
The landscapes become a means to frame and identify the significant relationship between (popular) culture and the land. Formed as much by natural forces as by the human knowledge that encompasses them, they are continuously in flux. In their series they pick up traces of narratives that not only reflux the vertical of the time axis back through past times, but also see a lot of surprisingly concrete motifs in the current horizontal. An ironic undertone and social engagement are used as instruments of cultural criticism.
Parallel to their combined photo series, philosopher Pieter Hoexum wanders throughout the area, writing and reflecting on the changing knowledges, attitudes and values as seen through the photographs. This adds an extra narrative element to the story; not about the flamboyant front, not the extraordinary, but the infra-ordinary, the “oblique glance" (G. Perec). Discovering landscape is a good exercise for body and for mind. This portfolio is a guide and companion to that exercise—to understanding, literally and figuratively, what the MRDH is.
in progress...
supported by:
Stichting Droom en Daad
The waterway devided by its bridges