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P.O.W The Cave
*This Project was sanctioned by the P.O.W message office.​
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Chairman Pigé and the P.O.W are proud to announce the result of the cave research program.
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7 test subjects completed their stay for 24 hours in the cave, with negligible side effects. ​
The first subject received the interior of the cave in a blank state, Having only raw materials to their disposal, Clay, wood, and color powder.
Each subsequent test subject would receive the cave in the state the last participant left it in. The test subjects were barred from ever meeting each other. Outside items, like phones clocks, electronics, and tools were prohibited.​
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The forms created within the cave seemed curious indeed.
Forms that, under normal circumstances, would of course never have been approved by the P.O.W design department. Chairman Pigé acknowledges that these Forms, if proposed naturally, could be dangerously dissident, The P.O.W will conduct a further study held under extreme scrutiny on the forms created in the Cave.
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*The participants created together a microcosm of how subsequent generations deal with the inheritance of their predecessors and the legacy they would leave to the next, through acceptance or rejection of the existing objects, And how one anticipates the generation coming after, either making something functional to increase the comfort of the next participant or leaving the space in functionless devastation in the name of their artistic expression.​​
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Start of a 24h stay in the cave.
1. Roman Nieuweboer
2. Repelsteeltje
3. Fenna Koot
4. Clara Luxardo
5. Nina Kramer
6. Cassidy Scheele
7. Timon Prosper
I created The Cave, and P.O.W. together with painter, Steff Fridael and Carlos.
The project had 2 distinct chapters : The Cave, and the P.O.W
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The Cave :
Steff was our neighbor in our atelier building, In one of our conversations we discussed a fascination of Steff with the primitive identity of ''artists'', Why humans always had an irresistible urge to create, from cave paintings to modern art. We also discussed a curiosity of mine about design and function. How do design and architecture develop from generation to generation? and how do we as humans existing in one point in time deal with cross-generational design realities? Should we embrace them as part of ourselves and further improve them, or are they a form of oppression limiting our creativity? , Should we, in some situations try to restart from a primitive point the evolution of our designs? Combining our subjects we arrived at curating a Cave residency.
We would invite 7 artists to stay, eat, and sleep for 24 hours at a time in a blank canvas-cave-like structure, They were given no specific direction on what to do once inside, there was nothing in the cave except primitive tools and materials. We were curious to see what their ''artist instinct'' would do with this situation. We would not reset the cave after each residency, but instead present the cave to the next person as the last one had left it. We were curious to see if they would continue on other people's work, Or would they first attempt to make the interior of the cave more ''homely'' by constructing functional objects like for example, a table, for everyone to use?
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P.O.W and Chairman Pigé
​We created a totalitarian performance surrounding the Cave, The P.O.W. belonged to a world where the rules and symbolisms of design and architecture were absolute. Always confirming the power of order and the state. We communicated with the participants trough a P.O.W email account in bureaucratic authoritative language. The entire building surrounding the cave was adorned with flags and P.O.W colors, Before entering and after leaving the cave, the participants were brought to a small interview room with chairman Pigé, where they had to fill in a bunch of nonsensical forms. We wanted to create an as grand as possible contrast between an atmosphere of rules and limitations outside the cave - and then 24 hours of creative freedom within the cave.
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Within the context of the P.OW, Chairman Pigé is the fictional creator of the Cave, who is both an abusive authoritative figure and a tragic character. We speculating him to have a secret wish for freedom and experimentation in his life and in design. But due to his absolute integration in an authoritative system. The only way for him to even slightly approach these concepts was through a setting he could only experience 2nd hand through the participants, wrapped in many layers of bureaucracy and authoritative symbolism. Only being able to observe free expression through cameras.
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