Madelon Hooykaas - the Artist as Explorer

Programme

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  Daydreams (16mm, 1972, 8')

  In this film Madelon Hooykaas and Elsa Stansfield are preoccupied by the thoughts-memories that cross a person’s mind from dusk till dawn. Parallels are drawn between day and night, and life and death.

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  About Bridges (16mm, 1975, 22')

  “It all begins with how you feel on a bridge… You see how other people are busy and how you experience it yourself and so it becomes something about people.” The artist Marian Plug speaks to filmmakers Stansfield/Hooykaas while composing her large and intricate silkscreen 'The Bridge'. The film explores different ideas of work, connection and positioning: a bridge means something different to a builder, an architect or someone walking over it. Anchored by a buoyant electronic soundtrack by British composer Delia Derbyshire.

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  In the Footsteps of Li Yuan-chia and Delia Derbyshire (2020, 9')

  A meditation honouring the friendship and creative working relationships Madelon Hooykaas had with the late Chinese artist Li Yuan-chia (1929-1994) and composer Delia Derbyshire (5 May 1937 – 3 July 2001). Drawing from images, text and sound by Li and Delia including footage from Madelon’s own archival collection and footage from The Hubble Telescope. The basic structure of the moving image is inspired by the Japanese concept used in Ikebana: TEN-CHI-JIN, meaning sky-earth-person. Caro C's sensitive soundtrack uses piano, prepared piano (including ping pong ball in piano), found sounds, voice and electronics.

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  As Above So Below (2019, 5', Dutch premiere)

  A poetic interpretation of the well know philosophical saying 'as above so below'. The principle also refers to the interconnection of the macrocosm, the universe, with the microcosm, the earth.

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  To Be or not to Bee (2020, 3')

  This short film is a response to a news item from 2020 about unexplained mass mortality of bees in northern Italy – the same region that was severely affected by the corona crisis. Hooykaas has been doing artistic research on bees for some time now. She refers to a prediction attributed to Einstein: if the bees die out, then humanity must start to worry.

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  Rhizome (2023, 3')

  In this multi-layered work the artist is discovering the connection between the roots of trees and underground networks humans have created.

• Documentation of the solo exhibition 'Wheel of Life' (2021, 4')

  Three works: a moving sculpture ‘Wheel of Life’, soundscape ‘Echo’ (7’) and video ’Resonance’ (7’).
  
  After the screening art historian and director of the Noordbrabants Museum Jacqueline Grandjean will interview the artist and the book 'The Artist as Explorer' will be presented. This comprehensive monograph is an interactive publication with QR codes that give access to Hooykaas’ work.