Art as Mirror of the Soul

Escher in Het Paleis is proud of its latest acquisition: a mechanical sculpture by Jelle Korevaar. This contemporary artist creates distinctive kinetic installations, striving to create an image that combines aesthetics and social criticism. Korevaar's work, called ... (Puntjepuntjepuntje), is displayed next to Escher's print Oog (Eye) this summer. This famous mezzotint is one of Escher's reflective masterpieces, in which you see a skull reflected in the pupil of an eye. A skull is also central to Korevaar's work, a mechanical one that keeps crying thick tears of oil without end. In ..., Korevaar plays with similar themes to Escher's Eye, such as death, eternity, introspection and reflection.

... is an infinitely continuous movement: the skull howls endlessly. That infinitely continuous movement is another theme that fascinated M.C. Escher, seen in prints such as Reptiles, Circle and Band of Möbius. In Escher's two-dimensional world on paper, it is difficult to evoke the suggestion of movement. However, there is one print in which he manages to do so: Waterfall. In it, he shows water flowing seemingly endlessly. If you put that infinitely flowing water next to Korevaar's sculpture, you see two examples of perpetual mobiles. Imaginary devices that can keep moving forever and, through that movement, can potentially generate energy. In other words, imaginary; in reality, they cannot. Escher does this by showing perpetual motion on paper, creating eternity in the viewer's mind. In Korevaar's artwork, the work can therefore go on indefinitely because of the built-in energy source and the infinitely rotating wheels; the optical illusion of Escher's perpetuum mobile is reality in Korevaar's skull.

With both artists, viewers see the work but also look their own mortality in the eye. What does it mean to be human, is there a soul and when does a human life end? These are general themes that affect everyone, but for the artist there is also a personal element.

... arose after a friend of Korevaar's developed cancer. His own speechlessness led to the title of this work. The vulnerable human and the invulnerable machine come together here.... also asks questions about the humanity of robots, our dependence on fossil fuels, man as creator and autonomy versus heteronomy. Do you take your fate into your own hands or put it into someone else's? Korevaar's moving objects are mechanical, but nevertheless evoke all kinds of emotions. They are creatures you can make contact with, as exponents of a new world in which man and machine come together. With both Korevaar and Escher, art holds up a mirror to us.

... can be seen this summer as part of the exhibition Playing with Mirrors from 14 June to 4 September.

https://escherinhetpaleis.nl/nieuws/kunst-als-spiegel-van-de-ziel/