In the historic music room of Château De Lovie (owned by Lord Jules van Merris), Mikes Poppe presents an installation composed of dozens of standalone drawings in varying formats. This setting establishes an explicit connection to Poppe’s durational performance ‘What is past, is prologue,’ staged upon the (seemingly) serene surface of De Lovie’s pond.
Through his use of glass’s transparency, Poppe not only obscures the space housing his installation but also subtly activates a dialogue with the kaleidoscopic history of this château and its myriad rooms. The turbulent history of this site—once a haven of aristocratic leisure, military strategy, resurgence, and repose—shimmers faintly through the glass.
The drawings, layered on glass plates, merge into a single evocative spatial entity. These transparent surfaces become canvases for an imaginative exploration of the tension between natural forces and human corporeality. Eruptive energies and human interventions coalesce into images that, in their stillness, suggest ever-shifting positions, inviting contemplation of what can be expressed, what remains unsaid, and what may lie beyond comprehension.
Much like his performances, Poppe investigates here the interplay between human strength and the contingencies of fate or the potential for crafted futures. He navigates a fluid spectrum ranging from collapse to triumph, or transformation, probing the delicate balance between destruction and renewal.
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