Online viewing Tomorrow's Harvest

Until the 20th of August 2022 you can visit Tomorrow’s Harvest - the solo exhibition by Jochem Esser - in the gallery.

Jochem Esser is a visual artist who is fascinated by the way in which technology mediates the way we see the world, and the influence of humans in this process. His work forms a dialogue between crafted physical objects and electronic media. The electronic media has a tendency to pull you in, while the object situates the viewer in space. In doing so, Esser plays with our expectations of art or design and gives the viewer the space to view the work through both perspectives.

For this exhibition, Esser developed a formation of vertical, handcrafted sculptures. Each one of them is a record of the process of making, captured in vertical form. The sculptures consist of a ceramic cell structure with electronic elements. A subtle play of light and sound plays through and around the whimsical shapes, interacting with each other and its spectators. The sound which plays through the exhibition is created by Andreas Tegnander.
In developing this work, Esser was inspired by ‘The Witte Wieven’: folklore stories about paranormal activity around Lower Saxon burial mounds. ‘Witte Wieven’ were regarded as wise women who guarded the burial mounds and were believed to be seen dancing in the mist. These burial mounds were animated by the spirits of these wise women. Unlike the monotheistic belief systems in which the world of mind and body are separated, the animists believed that the spirits manifested in the physical world and hid in objects. Esser plays with the analogy of the animated object through electronic processes that take place in the sculptures. In a literal sense, Tomorrow’s Harvest can therefore be interpreted as an altar to these electronic processes to which we are exposed on a daily basis.

View the available sculptures here.
Location: Robert Fruinstraat 52, 6th floor, Rotterdam
Photography by Jacqueline Fuijkschot

Sound-artist: Andreas Tegnander Music: Andreas Tegnander
Video: Arne Elgersma