The project ‘Roman’ was developed during an assignment from the Province of Utrecht and under the auspices of the CBK (Centre for Visual Arts) Utrecht, in collaboration with design agency Kusters & Montens and Krijn Christiaansen. In an abandoned apple orchard, visitors encountered packaged objects. The forms could be anything; packaged archaeological finds, garden sculptures in frost-protective winter coverings, or neutral pieces of scenery in a story seemingly taking place on this spot. At the entrance each visitor was given an empty novel. The information on the back flap informed them that it is in fact the incomplete literary debut of Chris Mochman - the pseudonym of the four artists and designers involved. With the empty book-jacket in their hand, the visitor strolled through the orchard and past the objects, where he discovered loose pages with fragments of the story, and assembles along the way, the incomplete contents of the novel. The shreds of the story ‘hang’ between the objects in the orchard. Through this process the visitor discovers, among other things, the fascinating history associated with this place when the Roman settlement Fectio was located here.
Fragment from Novel, by Chris Mochman:
…but yesterday there was singing in the streets and the owners of the voices reciting this chant were exuberant. Sometimes one hears such a thing in the distance and the music merges with ones surroundings. The chorus stops – a dog barks at precisely the right moment – and the following verse commences. It seems then as though the world explodes with dance and song. An arbitrary passer-by becomes an animated bit-player. The facade of the principia becomes a decor that conceals shrouded intrigues which will unfurl onto the street in a subsequent act, so that the viewer will always comprehend. The heated discussion in a doorway becomes a round when thus accompanied by jabbering from the trio by the latrine - the barber, the smith and a soldier with a bandage over one eye. They have their arms around one another’s shoulders and sway in time. A swarm of black birds rustles over the heads of the actors, in a downwards curve, akin to the swipe of a conductor. People go off slowly, with hops from one leg to the other, interspersed with synchronised jumps. The music and the choreography of day to day life die out and I remain behind in the graceless sequel…
Fragment from Novel, by Chris Mochman:
…but yesterday there was singing in the streets and the owners of the voices reciting this chant were exuberant. Sometimes one hears such a thing in the distance and the music merges with ones surroundings. The chorus stops – a dog barks at precisely the right moment – and the following verse commences. It seems then as though the world explodes with dance and song. An arbitrary passer-by becomes an animated bit-player. The facade of the principia becomes a decor that conceals shrouded intrigues which will unfurl onto the street in a subsequent act, so that the viewer will always comprehend. The heated discussion in a doorway becomes a round when thus accompanied by jabbering from the trio by the latrine - the barber, the smith and a soldier with a bandage over one eye. They have their arms around one another’s shoulders and sway in time. A swarm of black birds rustles over the heads of the actors, in a downwards curve, akin to the swipe of a conductor. People go off slowly, with hops from one leg to the other, interspersed with synchronised jumps. The music and the choreography of day to day life die out and I remain behind in the graceless sequel…
