THE REEL, VIDEO, 2020

A11 is a wafer-thin sculpture in Pierre de Lens Limestone. Spanning 160 centimeter wide, the heavy stone sculpture is balancing on a point the size of a tealight. Limestone being quite brittle, the strength of this work lies in it’s fragility. Constantly in danger of breaking the sculpture asks questions about the precarious nature of beauty and of life itself. Therefore it may be seen as an abstraction of the nude human soul.

The sculpture A11 is shown placed in a 15 meter long water basin, creating an imaginary realm; the parallel world that hides behind it’s own reality. As very narrow beam of light hits part of the object. It get’s veiled it in darkness while simultaneously part of it is revealed in an almost voyeuristic manner, much like watching someone sleep, when, at the break of dawn, a stipe of light illuminates the skin. 

With it’s smooth features and it’s horizontal lines the work reminds us of the countless reclining nudes we find throughout art history, portraying the beauty and the vulnerability of their (usually feminine) models. This artwork certainly stands in that tradition, but not as portraying the beauty of female vulnerability, but as a tribute to her singular strength.

Pierre de Lens Limestone (France)

160cm x 58cm x 25cm

A11 video by Badriah Hamelink ©

music by Vanessa Amara ©

Link to video: https://vimeo.com/426594854