Marjan Teeuwen
Not any old building can be a ruin. It refers to the utopian idea of building something, which has then fallen into ruin. It has to do with failing and succeeding. These are the ingredients I work with.
Marjan Teeuwen via Museum De Lakenhal Leiden, 2015
Large-scale architectural installations in derelict buildings scheduled for demolition make up the core of Marjan Teeuwen’s (1953, the Netherlands) work. Teeuwen demolishes ceilings, walls and floors and rearranges the resulting debris into architectural sculptures, creating new vistas and rhythms within the existing structure. Photographs, such as Verwoest Huis Bloemhof 2, are the only remaining traces of Teeuwen’s interventions once the wrecking ball has done its job. They function as lieux de mémoire, speaking to the dialectical forces of construction, destruction, order and chaos which Teeuwen considers intrinsic to the human condition.
