STAGING SPACE
A GROUP EXHIBITION BY INE LAMERS, LEOPOLD/EMMEN, LUCA TICHELMAN, MELS VAN ZUTPHEN
Curated by Marieke van der Lippe
19 January – 15 February 2025 NL=US Gallery
You are cordially invited to the festive opening of the group exhibition Staging Space.
Opening
January 19, 2025
15.00-17.00
Address
NL=US Gallery
Mauritsweg 55B, 3012 JX, Rotterdam
EXHIBITION STATEMENT
The exhibition Staging Space features artists whose work exists in the intersection between film and visual art. Their approach examines the relationship between people and their surroundings, adopting a contemplative use of time and space, reconfiguring narrative structures.
Themes such as identity and architecture, human relationships and spaces, memory and transformation all intertwine and influence their practice.
Image, space and light serve both conceptually as well as cinematic elements and are visual components within the physical works themselves, encouraging viewers to actively seek meaning.
Ine Lamers
‘Fever is a bliss’ 2020
Single-channel video
6:57 min. loop
Cast: Sergey Budygin & Julia Shostak
Text: Saskia de Jong
Camera: Rob de Vree
Ine lamers ‘ film asks questions about cultural identity on the basis of language. ‘ Fever is a bliss’ excludes thoughts on how Northern Western capitalism ‘has won’ and how young generations from other parts of the world are trying to find their way through the maze of limited possibilities offered by the globalized (Western) world. We see a young Russian man in close-up. He tries to repeat English sentences which are prompted to him by someone off camera. The man imitates the words and ‘tastes’ them but doesn’t seem to understand most of the content of what he is saying and has difficulty with the pronunciation. The situation becomes increasingly uncomfortable, but he perseveres. To what end?
The text derives from improvisation by a group of Russian actors who en-acted a scene of waiting, while standing in line. The witty and quirky sentences were translated by Russian students to English. Saskia de Jong has selected and refined the text, highlighting its poetic qualities.
Leopold/Emmen
On my way home, 2025
3 Projections, HD video, no audio loop, 1 LED theatre light, red
Video duration: 8min 20s
Mixed media: Plasterboard, wood, underlayment, clay, cloth, mirror
110 x 120 x 140 cm
On my way home
Model for a world/a house/a dream/a story/a memory
We use models as a means to merge images, stories and material into existence.
A representation for a place that does not yet exist or an event that has already taken place. At the same time a concrete and tangible sculpture.
Luca Tichelman
THIS IS US A STORY OF THOSE THEM ME AND WE, 2022
Video, TV, headphones
Video duration: 17min video loop
Three characters try to articulate who they believe to be by performing scenes in a self-created miniature theater. This quest manifests in three different scenes, during which they contemplate a distinct form of art. Every scene is introduced with the phrase; “THIS IS US”.
Scene one, (those) they act as if they are a theater group rehearsing a scene they discuss how a character should be portrayed. Scene two (them) they watch television judging the lives they’re looking at and compare it to their own. Scene three (me) they immerse themselves in a museum setting. As they gaze upon a piece of art, they engage in a discussion about their varied interpretations. Lastly (we) an epilogue unfolds in which they collectively transform into a piece of art, symbolically “dancing into eternity.”
Luca Tichelman
LOOK A LIKE, LUC A LIKE, 2022
Video, Iphone, silvertape
15 x 6,73 x 0,73 cm
Video duration: 50min video loop
A digital triptych that shows Luca looking for what to look like. An attempt to make a ‘moving painting’ consisting of an Iphone taped on the wall. On the screen is shown 300 differently dressed Luca’s. She’s making small gestures, like reading a book or having a phone call, looking around, crying, laughing, wondering….ect. The video is somewhat like a catalog, offering a glimpse into the myriad looks Luca explored while experimenting with her appearance.
Mels van Zutphen
7.83Hz, 2022
Speakers, paper cones, oscillators
As a result of lightning discharges worldwide, a series of low-frequency electromagnetic waves are created in the atmosphere. These so called Schumann resonances occur at specific frequencies that are determined by the circumference to the Earth, the distance between the Earth’s surface and the ionosphere, as well as the electrical conductivity of the Earth’s surface. The fundamental frequency of Schumann resonance is around 7.83 hertz, but there are also standing waves of higher frequencies.
In this work, the electromagnetic waves are expressed in sound waves. Oscillators generate waves of 7.8 Hz, 14.3 Hz and 20.8 Hz respectively and loudspeakers play those frequencies: but the sounds are too low for us to hear. The conical paper horns that are placed on the speakers vibrate in rhythm with the frequencies; these do make audible sound. By using different paper types and different sizes of horns in a programmed cycle, a constantly changing sound sculpture is created.
Mels van Zutphen
WIMPS, 2020
Videloop, projected and spoken text
In the video work WIMPs, the often incomprehensible names of scientific research projects are made both visible and audible. Abbreviations from study descriptions, specialized devices, or institutes are forced into acronyms, introducing alien meanings into the original context in favor of creating a catchy name.
Mels van Zutphen
Rocketscience, 2020
Video loop (Iphone in frame)

Mauritsweg 55B
3012 JX, Rotterdam
Wed – Thu
Open by appointment
Fri – Sun
12 – 5 pm
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