Unlike other artists who conceive their work as series or projects, the principle underlying Janssen’s creative endeavour is the mise-en-abîme of his own artistic practice –a self-reflective enterprise whereby fiction and reality become blurred. Janssen pictures his very own life and creation process as fictitious givens. Twan Janssen is an actor who plays the painter Twan Janssen. The paintings he makes are props in the tragicomic play of his career in which figures such as gallery owners, critics and collectors become mere extras. Each piece is both an artwork and a prop, an artefact to be appreciated simultaneously for its suggestive beauty and for its function within the intricate narrative engineered by the artist. Hence, each and every aspect of Janssen’s work can be read both autonomously and as part of his broader scheme.
The exhibition ‘REBOOT’ showcases works featured in the computer-animated video called Pilot 1.2 that follows a first episode in five acts, Pilot 1.1. In this second 3D animated film created by Janssen, the fictional character Twan Janssen who had been spending three months in China as an artist in residency in Pilot 1.1 is now facing a creative crisis. Whereas Pilot 1.1 sought to address the relation of artists to institutions, Pilot 1.2 tackles in a tragicomic manner other stereotypical givens in artists’ biographies such as the fear of failure, the ambiguous relation of artists to their creations and a temporary lack of inspiration. Catalogues, best offs and compilations become the only formats left over to artists running out of new ideas. On the other hand, desperate attempts at producing significant works gives way to absurd endeavours such as that of trying to re-invent the wheel. The art practice has become superfluous and excessively abundant. It has become a parody of itself. Yet, staged as props, the many works featured in ‘REBOOT’ crowd the gallery space as if expecting to be used in a new play, that which viewers will make up for themselves upon visiting the exhibition.