CHOU CHINOIS (PAK CHOI), a solo exhibition by Pieter van der Schaaf, ran from October 24 to November 21, 2015, at Glassbox in Paris. Inspired by construction sites and the temporary nature of pallets used in the industry, the gallery space was transformed into an in-between space made up of fragments and puzzle pieces.
Plastic insulators take up half of the work and cover half the walls so that the wooden framing that holds it together beneath is visible. On the other side of the room, amateur metal scaffolding stands alone without purpose, pretending to act as support. Scattered around the floor and on the wall are bits of white panels, similar to the colour of marble found in ancient sculpture after its colour has faded.
Pieter van der Schaaf, CHOU CHINOIS (PAKCHOI) (2015), exhibition view. Courtesy Glassbox, Paris.
Chou Chinois, meaning Chinese cabbage in English, is used in the show as a metaphor for the concept of something rebuilding itself: when cut up and placed in water, the vegetable tries to return to its previous form. The exhibition places itself within the context of this organic re-assemblage as a way to explore replica and variation. Shaaf’s ongoing interest in duplication and representation is carried out through archaeological references that conjure up ideas related to the absent whole and the desire to put the broken back together in the form of a new fiction.**
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CHOU CHINOIS (PAK CHOI), a solo exhibition by Pieter van der Schaaf, ran from October 24 to November 21, 2015, at Glassbox in Paris. Inspired by construction sites and the temporary nature of pallets used in the industry, the gallery space was transformed into an in-between space made up of fragments and puzzle pieces.
Plastic insulators take up half of the work and cover half the walls so that the wooden framing that holds it together beneath is visible. On the other side of the room, amateur metal scaffolding stands alone without purpose, pretending to act as support. Scattered around the floor and on the wall are bits of white panels, similar to the colour of marble found in ancient sculpture after its colour has faded.
Pieter van der Schaaf, CHOU CHINOIS (PAKCHOI) (2015), exhibition view. Courtesy Glassbox, Paris.
Chou Chinois, meaning Chinese cabbage in English, is used in the show as a metaphor for the concept of something rebuilding itself: when cut up and placed in water, the vegetable tries to return to its previous form. The exhibition places itself within the context of this organic re-assemblage as a way to explore replica and variation. Shaaf’s ongoing interest in duplication and representation is carried out through archaeological references that conjure up ideas related to the absent whole and the desire to put the broken back together in the form of a new fiction.**
