Johan van der Wiel

A performance at the Night of Discovery on Pietersplein in Leiden, part of the Echoes of Nature exhibition, curated by Karl Karlas. A fire was lit and the moon's orbit drawn on the square with charcoal, forming nine 80cm circles and colored them in. From 8:00 PM to midnight, the moon's position was displayed on the street every half hour. It was a new moon, which rotates with the sun and was on the opposite side of the Earth that night.

BLOK is a site-specific installation and spatial intervention. Inspired by the story of H.W. Blok (1910-1995), a bookseller, publisher and resistance fighter from Charlois, Rotterdam. He survived Dachau by putting his dream of his new bookshop on a checkered paper with blue pencil. With this installation, Johan in Hout and Matt Plezier not only put the book at its center, ‘I don’t trade in books, but in kilos of knowledge’ said H.W. Blok, but also imagination as an essential part of life and even survival. This in times where the book and art are increasingly under threat. A space for books a growing book case. foto: Jake Caleb

In the neighbourhood Heechterp in Leeuwarden I put up a tent in front of the exhibitionspace No Mans Land. On the window I wrote a poem whiche you could read when looking outside at the tent. The context of the tent and the poem can be found at my website, post 'Nimmens Lân'.

The pattern of our urban streets and the paving stones from Guernica is made from the top of my workbench. The other pattern is made from the worktop of a lithograph press and is a 'patron' in the form of an icon. This work was created in conjunction with the story "Fragment," a short story consisting of five fragments. You can find one of these on my website. A publication "Fragment" is released in 2024.

Charcoal, wood from the street, three questions. Fire. Bare feet in the mud, dancing around a fire. After a day of sweating in the fields, together at the fire pit. Humanity living under the moon and stars, connected to the earth. This perspective is taken in the poem "Four Quartets" by T.S. Eliot. The line "They were dancing around the bonfire" (East Coker) was the starting point for City Fire. With this project, I'm searching for connectedness in the city. Connectedness with nature and with each other. I follow the 29-night lunar cycle to create a wooden panel for each phase. In the city where we’re going to meet I’m scavenging the streets for some wood to create a panel. In the evening, I meet by the fire on the panel and ask three city fire questions to reflect on the city, nature, and connectedness. Sixteen city fires have been lit. Work in progress.

Ianua is a piece made in co-operation with Paul de Regt an artist based in The Hagua. This is an example of an artpiece what started as a carpetry job. Ik also wrote the short story ianua. You can read the story at www.buroinhout.com/post/ianua The photo shows ianua at RAAM 55

Epoxy, pine wood, steel, gesso, jute, linseed oil, straps “Dressed up like myself I’ll go out.” A start of a poem wich where floading in my head. Stuck in tongue, but came into view unexpectedly. Grown up in Ende des Jahrhunderts, the eighties and the nineties you could look up and identify yourself with an idol. Big posters above your bed and in the wardrobe look-a-like clothing. Only in my imagination I dressed up. Strange I never was a fan of David Bowie, the multi identity man. Every new cover a new identity. The period where the minimal was elaborated and abbreviated man. Left the western civilization naked behind in everyday life.

The first pile of the Prins Clausplein went in at the year 1980. I never realized that this concrete with asphalt finished metaphor ever had a start. A couple of months ago I went to investigate the plein: on my bike looking for the center and from the four different directions I crossed over the plein by car. By surprise I ended up inside the plein and connected one thing to the other. Is it possible for a square to have no centre? Can a living complex exist without a core? At the Prins Clausplein it’s possible, but how? The roads brought a new perspective. This is the third piece of the serie ‘Ende des Jahrhunderts’ beside ‘Pulse’ and ‘Frock’. What’s your perspective on daily life and your point of view on art? You can look at a painting, read a poem and can walk around a sculpture. Could it be possible to get into an artpiece? Welcome into the piece Plein. Get in your car, put on the boxes and checkout the route (describtion of the route and a link to soundcloud can be found on the website) and lets go. Go in the direction of Prins Clausplein. Press play and watch. The music fort his piece is composed and played by Jonathan Leendertse. The piece Plein is consisting out of two parts. A piece in the window frame of the workshop and on/in the Prins Clausplein itself.

A performance is an investigation. Put up an imaginary fence around a piece of daily life. Observe what will happend, within yourself and in the behaviour of the others. “What do you see?” Every Friday noon in march, april and may 2021 I took a fixed route with my mouth cap on. Curious of my own reaction and the reaction of the people on the street. The challage in it was to get question instead of opnions. Be open and accept the discomfort. When I entered the Binnenhof I took a selfie and posted this one on instagram @johaninhout. I used the comments of instagram as a journal. Down the road there were a lot of spontaneous reactions by call out, a laugh, by looking away or looking straight ahead. People come to me to share there storie of to ask me some questions and a couple of times to make a picture. There’s a new dynamic in our society. It strucked me what a great influence images have had and that most of the times someones point of view determined one’s pespective. For me that was the beginning of my investigation by a performance. An image, the perspective and the meaning given to it by myself, by you and by everyone else. How do I look, what do I see? How do you look and what do you see? Concept: every Friday noon a selfie with the wooden mounth cap at the Binnenhof . Three months (3 maart tm 28 mei). Route: Bakkerstraat, Torenstraat, Kerkplein, Rond de Grote Kerk, Gravenstraat, Buitenhof, Binnenhof, Plein, Lange Poten, Hofweg, Buitenhof, Gravenstraat, Grote Halsstraat, Prinsestraat, Kleine Nobelstraat, Torenstraat, Geest. Reflections and reactions in the comments of Instagram @johaninhout

Pine wood, steel barn hinges A sculpter inspired by Philip Glass opera The Fall of the House of Usher. A story of Edgar Allen Poe with the motto of songwriter de Béranger (1780-1857). “My heart is like a suspended lute. The moment it’s touched, there will be sound.” This work of Glass struck me. It stired up a feeling from an inside dept where Techno music also can enter. The opera is released in 1987, a time where techno was in full development. Music totaly undressed, minimal. It already last the harmony and melody and no it was the time of the rhythm. Whats left is the pulse, the heartbeat. This piece is a part of the serie ‘Ende des Jahrhunderts’ besides ‘Kleed’ and ‘Plein’.

An object made of timber from one specific skip. A cube consisting of wood of various sizes. A new object for in the new renovated space made of the old wood from the same space.