We are pleased to present Dead River, a solo exhibition of new works by Tanja Engelberts, opening at Galerie Caroline O’Breen 4 November, 2023. Please join us and the artist for opening drinks, 16–18 hrs.
In the 1950s, the Rhône River was declared dead. With the development of hydroelectricity, new canals took over the old river, dikes were built against flooding and dams were put up in the name of technology. The Rhône provided an ideal setting for several nuclear power plants and chemical industry sites. It became a hydraulic object where the boundaries between nature and technology slowly blurred.
The river – once the symbol of an uncontrollable force – had been conquered, but how would the river best describe itself? For Dead River, Tanja Engelberts tries to imagine what it’s like to be a fast-flowing river that slowly accumulates Anthropocene-era artifacts over a 600-kilometer stretch. Inspired by Bruno Latour’s The Parliament of Things – in which the philosopher argues that laws and politics should not be centered only around people, but should respond to all things and life forms – the artist examines the river from an animistic point of view. Engelberts followed the fast current of the Rhône from the Mediterranean to its source in the glaciers of Switzerland. The landscape that she discovered, steeped in chemical waste, is gradually disappearing due to the effects of climate change.
Where the Rhône has been subdued by hydraulic and nuclear technology, Engelberts wanted to adopt a technical and distant approach to her own way of working. The artist made photographs and a video from the perspective of the river itself, focusing on the junction of water and riverbanks – sometimes it’s a natural barrier, but more often stone or concrete. Along these riverbanks, she found a clay-like substance that she incorporated into her works. Engelberts created relieves on the basis of laser cut photographs of the river and pressed clay into them. She then glazed her ceramic landscapes with clay sourced from the Rhône – typical for the work of Engelberts, the subject and object become intertwined within the artwork.
In the video We Exhale Engelberts followed the river from the Mediterranean to its source in Switzerland, charting its transformations, its journey, and its many voices. Organic materials which fill the water are slowly broken down through chemical processes, creating carbon dioxide (CO2). What sound does a river make when exhaling? Does this sound change as the river is poisoned, distorting and fading from its natural state? Engelberts collaborated with sound artist Liz Harris to form sensitive soundscapes from ambient noise combined with field recordings. Together, they created a poetic means to reflect on how a poisoned river might possibly exhale.
BIO Tanja Engelberts
Tanja Engelberts (1987, Deventer, NL) investigates how to document landscapes that are no longer visible. These locations encompass artificial islands, the vast North Sea, or the Rhône River, and are often related to the fossil fuel industry. In recent years, Engelberts has been focusing on the ways in which energy production shapes our landscapes. In her work, the disappearing landscape takes shape by means of film, print, sound and text in which the atmosphere and experience of these places is recorded.
Tanja Engelberts lives and works in The Hague. In 2021, Engelberts completed her two-year residency at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten, Amsterdam. She has participated in residency programmes in Canada, the USA and Finland. Recent exhibitions include presentations in the Netherlands and abroad, a.o. Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center, Budapest (HU, 2023); Brandenburgische Gesellschaft für Kultur und Geschichte, Potsdam (DE, 2023; solo exhibition); Rencontres d’Arles, Arles(FR, 2023); Rijksmuseum Twenthe, Enschede (NL, 2023); Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam (NL, 2023); Brutus, Rotterdam (NL, 2023); Maritiem Muzeeum Zeeland, Vlissingen (NL, 2023; solo exhibition); Timespan Heritage Museum, Helmsdale (SCT, 2023). Exhibited and published internationally, Engelberts’ works are also included in the collections of De Nederlandsche Bank, ING, De Brauw, Ucross Foundation, Normec, Nationale Nederlanden, Clifford Chance (UK) and Chelsea College of Art special collections (UK).
