Guido van der Werve

‘Everything is going to be alright‘- under this motto, Dutch artist Guido van der Werve (b. 1977) transports us to a barren icy landscape in the middle of summer in his video work, where he unflinchingly walks towards us a few metres in front of a 3,500-tonne icebreaker. Van der Werve interweaves complex themes such as nature, progress, threat, technology, confidence, courage and fear in this monumental image. Peepholes in the display window of the exhibition space provide an intimate insight into the work, which playfully blurs the boundaries between public space and artistic intention. In contrast to Caspar David Friedrich’s ‘The Sea of Ice’ (1823/24), van der Werve’s ship is not buried under the force of nature, but rather emanates a continuous danger, threatening to break away from under the artist’s feet. Whether we will soon be shipwrecked remains an open question in the endlessly looped installation.

Guido van der Werve, Nummer acht, everything is going to be alright, 2007, video still, Bildrechte: © Guido van der Werve, Courtesy the artist and GRIMM, Amsterdam/London/New York