Chapter seven :
Eternal Sunshine of the Restless Mind
JUN.28—SEP.28.2024
WITH
Céline Berger, Thijs Linssen, Cathleen Owens
OPENING
Friday JUN.28, 19:00 - 23:00
ON VIEW
Fri-Sat: 13:00-18:00
Mon-Thu by appointment
WITH Céline Berger, Thijs Linssen, Cathleen Owens
JUN.28—SEP.28.2024
The Balcony presents the seventh chapter of its series The Promise of Ruin(s). The exhibition Eternal Sunshine of the Restless Mind looks at the competitive and repetitive cycle of (self)employment in late capitalism, where labor and leisure often blur into one continuous loop. Endless work is driven by the possibility of free time and simultaneously burdened by it, as the individual internalizes guilt over being unproductive. Are we flirting with capital’s fantasy of producing while taking time off? What tricks do we play on ourselves to bandage alienation, keep on working, and call it resting?
Céline Berger
Lives and works in Cologne, Germany. Trained in physics and material sciences, she worked for various international microelectronic companies as a production and project engineer from 1997 to 2008. She graduated from the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne in 2012 and has been a resident at the Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten, Amsterdam, in 2012-13. She received the Nam June Paik Newcomer Award in 2012.
Cathleen Owens
Visual artist and educator based in The Hague, NL. She holds a master's degree from the ArtScience Interfaculty of the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, and a BFA in Photography and the Digital Image from the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, USA. Cathleen’s work, which usually takes the form of performative installations involving text, works with the subjects of identity and self-representation, creating narratives centered around performative productivity and well-being.
Thijs Linssen
“In video, site-specific installations, small sculptures, and photography, I strive to capture fleeting moments and desires. These moments often reference the past, evoking the associated feelings and thoughts. They frequently originate from a personal source. I find it important that people can recognize something of themselves and others in my work. Therefore, I use universal elements that resonate in the collective memory, such as a sunset, the weather, cigarettes, clocks, packed cars, an artist studio, and soccer. Slowing down, stopping, accelerating, or the duration of a certain thing and the experience of it are recurring motifs in my work. The works together do not form one concrete idea, but each offers its own suggestion.”
ABOUT
Since March 2018 The Balcony curates exhibitions supporting the presentation of upcoming practices with a focus on alternative formats of display, keen on collaborations and cross-generational presentations. The initiative was previously hosted in the vitrine of a violin store, originally known as The Balcony (2018 – 2020), as well as the basement of a former office space, previously known as Susan Bites (2019 – 2021).
In 2021 the initiative relocated to a permanent location in the city centre at Nieuwe Molstraat 14-A2, hosting an exhibition space and artist studios. Starting from September 2023 The Balcony is curated by Arthur Cordier (b.1993. BE), Valentino Russo (b.1994. IT) as well as Abril Cisneros Ramirez (b. 2001. MX), Marica Kolcheva (b.1986. BG) and Ariane Toussaint (b.1996. FR), who recently joined the team to expand the curatorial and public program. The team warmly thanks the artists for making this exhibition possible, Stefan Bandalac (SBAE) for the technical partnership and graphic designers Pavlo Radich and Julia Waraksa from STAATSDUET. Members of the initiative support the programme on a project and often on a voluntary basis, your support is appreciated.