Mourn/ing

The work of Annick Nölle has always struck me as light, flighty even, free-spirited and ever so positive – that is why I was slightly concerned to find the reference to mourning in this installation... to mourn the loss of something or someone is to view the past – to re-view. Perhaps my view of a happy-go-lucky and permanently positive artist is but a figment of my own imagination... based on past instances in which I had the privilege to work with her – for instance on the A Ripple in the Stuff of the Universe installation, part of the Ramble series at the Felixart museum, and certainly the various “Jaarlijks Verlof/Vacances annuelles” and various interventions during 'Laboratoires Patacyclistes' and group projects like the Cadavre Exquis in the rue de Flandre.

Annick told me: addressing the question of mourning is one way to talk about how we humans deal with ourselves and our environment in this particular society at this specific moment in time. The way we mourn, or rather not mourn, is in my opinion a serious issue we should really start to deal with, for the sake of Peace. There´s a lot of unmourned sadness in our society that turns into violence. I see grieving as a way to process the gap between what we want and what is real, and making room for something new.

Chris Straetling (in cooperation with Annick Nölle)

On Sunday October 17th and November 14th, from 2 until 6 pm, she will also be there for her ‘Jaarlijks Verlof/Vacances Annuelles: Open Studio’.

Artists: Annick Nölle