"By not clearly defining aspects such as scale, the effect is charged and the viewer is challenged to fill it in for himself."
Michiel Kluiters (1971, Amsterdam) makes monumental, painterly photographs of empty spaces that you can step right into. The work is on the plane between sculpture, photography and painting. They are images of improvised architectural scale models that he builds in his studio and then photographs in razor-sharp detail. The combination of light and shadow, point of view, perspective, color, texture and details result in an alienating effect with a signature all its own. The images seem primarily addressed to the hands rather than the eyes: they long to be touched, stroked, felt.
The spaces are reminiscent of unfinished utopian buildings or abandoned ruins, still under construction or already decaying. This introduction of a sense of time - of something indicative of future completion or of a lingering memory of something irrevocably past - contributes to the inherent instability of these works.
By choosing to make photograph rather than show the object, the work lingers on that precious boundary between presence and absence, between reality and fiction.
"For me, it's about orchestrating that one hushed two-dimensional image in which all those facets come together very precisely. It is important that the viewer has no clear idea of the true size of the space shown that has been photographed and whether or not it really exists. I consciously play with this, by not clearly defining things like scale the effect is charged and the viewer is challenged to fill it in for himself."
Ever since his academy days, Kluiters has been concerned with building spaces to scale.
Initially with the goal of establishing his own defined "workspace" within the chaos of the Rietveld Academy's studio building. Soon these spaces became in themselves his focus. After the Rietveld, he went to the Ateliers where he further developed his work under the guidance of artists such as Jan Dibbets, Marien Schouten and Rita McBride. He became fascinated how he could visually affect an existing space through photographic blow-ups of his created spaces. First with large photographic works and later with wall-filling photo installations. Over time, this developed further into architectural interventions, video installations and sculptures in public spaces. In contrast to the many in-situ works and art commissions, he very consciously strives for an autonomous image in his current approach.
Kluiters’ current working method is quite irrational. He allows the crudely built models to emerge under his hands without a preconceived and elaborate plan. It lets the material itself partially inspire what he creates, the way he handles it and what he sees through it. As a result, the final image is layered and of deeper meaning than reality indicates. It is not simply a passage to another space, but it gives access to the personal experience of the creator.