* 1994, NL
Eline Kersten
The practice of Eline Kersten balances between artistic research and curatorship. She doesn’t create a world, but processes the world as it is shown to her – including its oddities, shortcomings and coincidences. She scrutinizes the exceptional in the everyday, which is volatile and ephemeral.
The ENCI will be approached as the ‘transition zone’, a place in transformation. Central in Eline’s research is the question whether it is possible to “unite the incompatible”. Within this framework, she looks at the concept of ‘solastalgia’. This imaginative term expresses the feeling of homesickness when one stays in a familiar environment, while it is in transformation. Nostalgia is a feeling that usually arises when one leaves a place; the feeling of solastalgia in contrast arises when one stays at the same place. While the pain of nostalgia can be softened by returning to the familiar place, the pain of solastalgia seems irreversible. Eline is astonished by the complexity of the transition zone, and seeks to catch that which would have otherwise gone unnoticed.
The ENCI will be approached as the ‘transition zone’, a place in transformation. Central in Eline’s research is the question whether it is possible to “unite the incompatible”. Within this framework, she looks at the concept of ‘solastalgia’. This imaginative term expresses the feeling of homesickness when one stays in a familiar environment, while it is in transformation. Nostalgia is a feeling that usually arises when one leaves a place; the feeling of solastalgia in contrast arises when one stays at the same place. While the pain of nostalgia can be softened by returning to the familiar place, the pain of solastalgia seems irreversible. Eline is astonished by the complexity of the transition zone, and seeks to catch that which would have otherwise gone unnoticed.
Eline collaborates with Gilbert Soeters, archaeologist of the municipality of Maastricht. In her research into the concept of solastalgia, she takes an academic position: by means of interviews she investigates the concept and tests it to as many opinions possible from people working and living in, on and around the quarry. Even though a large variety of partners, and thus of opinions and perspectives are crucial for her research, she also has a long-term collaboration with city-archaeologist Gilbert Soeters. He studied Art History at the University of Utrecht and Archaeology at the University of Amsterdam. He is currently employed as policy officer archaeology for the municipality of Maastricht, where he is working on the drafting, implementing and execution of archeological policies on a daily basis. He tells the story of the history of Maastricht based on archaeological data and maintains an (inter)national network of archaeologists and historians.
For more information, please visit the website of the Centre Céramique.