Anne Rosa Lut
An exercise in connection and separation #5

An exercise in connection and separation#5 is a performance by Anne Rosa Lut, in which she tries to get a grasp on the space in-between. She divides up the room and the audience with blue lines, to explore what it’s like to be separated from each other. The lines make visible the distance between us, marking the place where one thing ends and the other begins. But can these lines also be a place of longing, a place of desire for what’s on the other side?

As a pre-master student Autonomous Design, Anne Rosa Lut (she/her) has been researching borders as a potential place for connection. By visiting and documenting the border between Belgium and her birth country, The Netherlands, she explores what it’s like to be on the line between two cultures. Recent political developments are showing the urgency of redefining this space, not only as a place where two things are separated, but also as a place where two things come together, which is what Anne Rosa tries to do in her work.

Dear M,

I’ve been consulting a map. I’m trying to get a grasp on the distance between us. My fingers are tracing the space in-between, to get from here to there.

You know, if your plane went in a straight line to get to its destination, your body will have crossed three national borders. Four if you passed the Vatican. Did you notice these crossings?Remember when I told you that borders are blue? On the map that I’m looking at, they’re black. But I think they only did that so we don’t confuse them with rivers.

Do you know why the sky is blue? When sunlight reaches our atmosphere, it scatters, like a glass slipping from a hand and falling on a stone floor. Blue light scatters more than other colors. Glass flying through the kitchen. Blue breaking apart, separating, creating distance.

Blue is the color of distance. Blue is the in-between. Blue is that you are there and I am here. Blue is desire. Blue is wanting something that is out of reach. Blue is the color of isolation, of separation. That’s why borders are blue.

If your plane went in a straight line to get to its destination, your body will have crossed three national borders. (you know) Defining a nation’s territory is not their only function. In reality those lines on that map are doing much more than that. Those lines separate. Those lines can increase the distance between two people. They might be in arm’s reach but that invisible line will make it impossible for them to touch. Simply because they were born in between the wrong set of lines. Meanwhile, you probably didn’t have any issue getting on an airplane and crossing three of those borders. You probably didn’t even notice.

When you return, I will draw a blue line around you. To make visible the distance between us, even when you are within arm’s reach. My blue is a blue of desire. Because you’ve always been a mystery to me. Maybe we’ll find each other one day. In the scattering of blue light.

All my longing,

R

Abstract Entities

Abstract Entities, Thomas Hitchcock's first institutional solo exhibition in Belgium, delves into the intersections of Art Nouveau and Europe’s fin de siècle cultural period and contemporary technological developments. Situated within the context of today’s global capitalism and digital shifts, he critically examines and juxtaposes themes of exploitation within a broader movement of retreating into interiority and dream-like realms.

Hitchcock’s newly created sculptural installation, within KIOSK’s former anatomical theater, also functions as an open platform for temporary interventions by Belgian art students. A multitude of different interventions across several media will take place throughout the exhibition period, including performances, music, collective readings, talks, workshops, discussions, body practices, poetry, and screenings – starting with the first contributions during the opening.

Practical information about the exhibition

• Opening on Saturday the 25th of January 2025, between 3 and 6 p.m.
• Open daily between 12.00 and 6.00 p.m.
• Open until 16.03.2025
  
• Free entrance
• Louis Pasteurlaan 2, 9000 Ghent, Belgium

This exhibition was produced in collaboration with Phileas - The Austrian Office for Contemporary Art, and with the support of the Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport (BMKOES) of Austria.