In late November, the Tumulus hermit hut collapsed- the rammed earthbag roof caving in under the weight of the rain. Ruchama immediately committed to rebuild, but she took this opportunity to rethink the design and the installation’s relation to the surrounding architecture. To stabilize the structure, she decided to use more resilient materials- moss-covered rocks and recycled construction debris: bricks, tiles, dockside paving stones, bits of her own ceramics broken in the collapse.
Patched together, Tumulus Hut II sits low on the ground: a readymade 21st century ruin equal parts romantic hermitage and abandoned squat. It is offered as a proposition taken out of time: both as a reminder of a shabbier, messier old Amsterdam, and as a pointer towards a possible alternative post-growth future. The Tumulus ruin is an unguarded border checkpoint sited in the no man’s land between development and entropy, renewal, and decay where the visitor is invited to step back for a moment and reflect on how she got here and where to go to next?
Tumulus
Tumulus is an enclosed garden installation that functions as a natural ruin, compost heap, soil sculpture, seedbed, earthwork, dyeing source, and dunghill. A bio-based celebration of seasonality, weed power and the magic of fermentation. Over the course of several seasons, Since june 2019, artist Ruchama Noorda transforms the installation into a living sculpture and green performance site. See all cycli here.
Ruchama Noorda
Ruchama Noorda is an artist who uses diverse media and materials in performances and installations. She received a PhD degree from the University of Leiden, where she researched the early 20th-century Lebensreform (Life Reform) movement. Noorda recycles Lebensreform teaching, arts, crafts, dance, diet, and ritual practices in her practice. These works both engage with and challenge the communitarian and counter-cultural aspirations, practices and beliefs of movements inspired by Lebensreform. Her works function as a sort of séance by highlighting the mystical and magical elements of these traditions. By making this the subject of her work, Noorda wants to excavate the histories of these movements that were often overshadowed by the ideologies of Modernist art movements.
Artist talk on ruins
At 17:30 there will also be an artist talk with Ruchama Noorda and Arne Hendriks about ruins and decay. They will discuss their projects that are build-to-collapse and transform into ever-changing cycli. How can we integrate decay as part of an artwork? And how to collaborate better with materials of unstable and unpredictable nature? Free entrance. More information here
Information
Opening Tumulus Hermit Hut II: Ruin by Ruchama Noorda
3 maart, 16:00
Free entrance
Mediamatic Biootoop, Dijksgracht 6, 1019 BS Amsterdam
