Additional information
by Arne Quinze (Author), Saskia De Coster (Author)
The Kunsthal in Rotterdam proudly hosted Arne Quinze's first exhibition in the Netherlands: My Secret Garden. His first large-scale indoor project consisted of a wooden labyrinth that pushed the visitors towards participation, stimulating them to reflect on their inner selves. Light and music intensified the experience. The electronic music duo Vive la Fête produced specific tones and soundscapes for the exhibition.
Simultaneously, in the Belgian coastal town Ostend, his permanent installation Rock Strangers was put into place. A sentiment of estrangement is generated by the monumental sculptures, due to their size and electric orange color, while they also evoke curiosity and astonishment. This installation intends to stimulate openness and bring different views and groups in society to the forefront.
Quinze invited author Saskia de Coster for a unique project. In an encounter between two artists, de Coster immersed herself in Quinze's work. She created a totally new work of fiction--which is included in the books--as well as a documentary for each project. The aim was multidirectional: not only to use Quinze's work as a door to cover new artistic territories, but also to let the new words and images influence and bring to life the spatial installations.
The documentaries, which are also included in the boxed book set, include various in-depth interviews and fascinating images of the making of these bold endeavors. The viewer gets a front-row look at the working process of both artists and will gain an intense experience of the works of art themselves.
Author Biography
Arne Quinze (1971): Arne Quinze was born in Belgium and lives and works in Sint-Martens-Latem, Belgium. In the eighties he began working as a graffiti artist but he never finished an official art education. Quinze creates large and small sculptures, drawings, paintings, and large-scale installations. Smaller works, sketches, and drawings are the basis and research for his large installations. Recurring fundamentals in his oeuvre are the use of multiple types of wood, including salvaged wood; electrical colors in fluorescent paint; and themes referring to social interaction, communication, and urbanism. Since a while he's doing research towards large steel installations.
Saskia de Coster (1976): After her studies at the University of Leuven (Germanic Languages) and Vancouver (Literature Theory) she became a fulltime writer. Her debut novel Vrije Val (Free Falling) was published in 2002 by the renowned Amsterdam-based publishing house Prometheus, as were her four consecutive novels. Her novels have won the Cutting Edge Award and have been nominated for the BNG-Literature Award, the Gouden Uil and the AKO literature prize. Her work has been translated into seven languages. De Coster is also known to collaborate with artists from various fields. For theatre company STAN she wrote the piece "Eskimo". Before, she collaborated with experimental theatre company Crew. De Coster publishes articles, short stories and columns in several newspapers and magazines such as NRC Handelsblad, Vrij Nederland, Volkskrant, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Le Soir, Humo. She is a columnist for the Flemish newspaper De Morgen. Furthermore, de Coster has just completed working on and playing in her own short film made in close collaboration with photographer Johan Jacobs and with a soundtrack by Ozark Henry.
