In her first Brussels solo show in the Room at 254Forest, Anouk Kruithof displays photographs and sculptures out of her new project Trans Human Nature. During long working periods in Botopasi, Suriname, a small village in the Amazon rainforest right on the Suriname River, she observed the transformative organic symbiosis of a rainforest mode of life ripe with traditions, and the dependence on hi-tech that the local people use every day.
The photographs are composed of various prints with images of stock photos representing the technological future. These images were printed on flexible, often partly transparent materials, such as fabrics, organic silk and pvc plastics. The concealed perils of the jungle and river formed the setting in which the photos were physically and performatively constructed, without any use of digital manipulation.
In Trans Human Nature Anouk Kruithof merges the spirit and strength of the Amazon’s jungle nature with next level intelligence of trans-human life. On the background, the ongoing global humanitarian crisis and the climate catastrophe provoked by technological ‘advancement’ lurks like a predator under the water surface. Some last plastic remnants testify of future and present modes of life, like the dreams and memories of the robots that have started to merge with humankind and the natural world on earth. The works in Trans Human Nature function as hybrid identities of our questionable future that open gateways to a more fluid world. One could see its beautiful complexities of humanity and the natural world aren’t separated and codified with borders, but keep breathing while showing the nerves of the world around us.
Anouk Kruithof is a Dutch visual artist whose multilayered and interdisciplinary approach encompasses photography, sculpture, installation, collage, artist-books, video, text, performance, and (social) interventions. She lives and works between Brussels, the Netherlands, and her wooden house in Botopasi (Suriname) in the middle of the Amazon Rainforest.
Text by Jesse van Winden
Because your safety is our priority, the Room is now limited at 5 visitors at a time and wearing a mask is mandatory. Even during these no hug-time and the respect of social-distancing, we look forward to seeing you again !
