October 31 - December 5 2009
Looove TINKEBELL.
etwas Spa§ fr den neuen TORCHmeister
verschiedene Arbeiten
latest
On May 16th the book Dearest TINKEBELL. will be presented. This book is a collection
of all the hate mail that Dutch artist TINKEBELL. has received between 2004-2008.
The majority of the messages are a reaction to the My dearest cat Pinkeltje (2004) project,
which had TINKEBELL. making a handbag out of her own cat.
The book is made in close collaboration with Dutch artist Coralie Vogelaar, who researched
the origins of the mails. Besides the actual hate mails that TINKEBELL. has received,
the book also includes personal information ( photos, blogs, addresses ) from those
who have sent the hate mails. All this information was taken from the web.
The majority of the hate mail (approximately 80%) comes from America, other countries
include The Netherlands, Belgium, France, Spain, Russia, UK and Brazil.
The book features complementary essays by authors such as NRC Handelsblad art critic
Ine Poppe and philosopher/linguist Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei.
In their essays, they will discuss the meaning of the different emails from the perspective
of their own disciplines.
Their contributions will place this publication within a broader context in order to evaluate
hatemail as both a social and artistic phenomenon.
With the publication of this book TINKEBELL. and Vogelaar bring about a huge change:
the apparent anonymous practice of online threatening of public or semi-public individuals
is confronted head on.
Normally the artist is questioned about his or her work, in this book the viewing public
and critics are also held accountable for their actions.
(Read English article in Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad, a German article on Radio
Bremen or check out trendbeheer for more images.)
Courtesy TORCH Gallery Amsterdam
This project has been made possible by The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts,
Design and Architecture.
You'd looove to buy this book? too bad, its SOLD OUT in the bookstores!
Really really want this book? There are some copies left in a special edition box,
exclusively available at TORCH Gallery.
(email: mo-at-torchgallery.com)
Some older projects (selection)
SAVE THE WORLD (2008)
In her project 'SAVE THE WORLD', TINKEBELL. travels around the world.
In the month of June 2008, she attended Beijing. After spending several days walking around
she found an old man selling birds at a local market. The man looked extremely sad,
but also gave her the impression to be extremely kind for his birds. He was surely a poor man
who did everything he could and gave everything he owned to his children-birds.
This was the man who needed to be saved. TINKEBELL. decided to spent five days,
to bring the man the things with which she would need to be saved, as she was in his situation.
So she did:
On the first day, she brought him a huge cake which was especially made for him.
On the second day she brought him the nicest new clothes she could find.
On the third day she gave him the biggest and cutest pink teddybear.
On the fourth day she asked the kindest haircutter, to give him a haircut.
On the fifth day she ordered her favorite food at her favorite restaurant and made the waitress bring it to him.
After the fifth day she saw that the old man had become extremely happy and she realized: She saved his world.
In 'SAVE THE WORLD' the artist shows how western people and organizations often feel the need to help others
when a situation doesn't correspond with their own life expectations.
The impossibility of really changing these situations according to a western standard and all the consequences and
(mis)communication this can generate, is the central point of research within this project.
TINKEBELL. is part of the Dutch artist group EMPATHYtm.
EMPATHYtm attended Dagaocun Art District, Beijing for a residency in June 2008.
'SAVE THE WORLD' is an EMPATHYtm project.
EMPATHYtm is Jonas Staal, Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei and TINKEBELL.
ALMOST 18+ memoriabilia (2008)
A vending machine presented at the Gogbot festival where one can buy
used teenagerŐs underwear for a couple of Euros.
Recently a witch hunt in the mass media lasting months ensued when the
"Party for Neigbourly Love, Freedom and Diversity" was founded, advocating total freedom,
including the lowering of the legal age of sexual maturity to 12, but at the same time
the popularity of "Barely 18" porn sites was strictly ignored in the debate.
When people assumed the online persona of underaged prostitutes in Second Life,
the Dutch Socialist Party wanted to ban it immediately, but here again the online sale of
used childrenŐs underwear was kept out of focus. In all these cases the visible excess
generated a strong reaction to ban it, with citizens mobilising en masse to apportion guilt,
but those aspects of the porn industry balancing dangerously on the fine line dividing maturity
and immaturity, which are commonly consumed by the public at large, were conveniently forgotten.
It appears that the confrontation may not get too close for comfort.
'ALMOST 18+ memorability' attempts to bring exactly that confrontation to the fore.
TINKEBELL. - Popple (2008)
"Popple" is part of then the Baby Bunnies series by TINKEBELL.
The Baby Bunnies series provides an analysis of the consumptive attitude that (post)modern man has taken on in relation to pets.
The pet is developing from 'man's best friend' into a completely commodified article of consumption.
Hypoallergenic cats and phospholuminescent fish are just some of the tragic examples of this process.
We're currently witnessing a development which is focused on creating the 'perfect' pet.
Due to breeding programs and genetic manipulation, we can recreate the pet into its 'ultimate', fantasy-based form,
as resembled by (plastic) toy pets: Smooth skinned or fluffy. Candy pink or with 'natural' color patches, featuring big shiny eyes
and/or limbs you can manipulate.
Mankind has been trying to dominate the animal kingdom for millennia and this ongoing endeavour will eventually result in the perfect pet.
A pet that can be adjusted to the wishes and desires of its owner. A pet that will be the perfect accessory in daily (social) life.
The Popple, marketed in the 80s as a teddy bear with an eversible bag, formed the inspiration for this work.
Made from specially prepared cat and dog skin, the work shows us the impossible linking of the heart-warming imperfection of the
natural animal and the artificiality of our perception of the 'ideal' pet, as a commodity, a toy.
Original text in Dutch: Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei
translation: Anneloes van Gaalen
SAVE THE PETS(1) (2008)
in SAVE THE PETS(1) 100 hamsters were put in transparant plastic balls, which are produced by the pet industry
to give people the idea that they could "free" their pets (hamsters), without having natural properties of the animal charge of their
natural behavior. They moved around in a livingroom-setting, built by me, during the three weeks of the exhibition.
This installation was actually a reconstruction of a collection youtube home video's , which were made by owners of these pets worldwide.
The project formed, beside a reflection of the concept ` freedom ' in combination with a doubtful preference for such a form of `entertainment ',
an indication of citizen culture, in which almost an extreme morality concerning the protection of pleased ` pets, goes hand in hand with
cheap and mechanically obtained food and decorative objects, where inferior dear animals are systematically used for..
shown in January 2008 at galerie masters, Amsterdam.
SAVE THE MALES (2007)
During the event ' SALE#3 -- Something green ' I offered visitors the possibility of saving male chicks of one day old,
which are normally gassed or killed in a shredder. About 31,000,000 cockerels die this way in the Netherlands every year,
usualy a couple hour after they are born. In this installation 61 male chicks ran around. The cockerels which remained at the end
of the ' SALE ' event (i.e. the cockerel which was not saved therefore) I publicly -- and under guarding - would have put
in the shredder , like also the case had been if I had not bought up these.
With the installation ' SAVE THE MALES ' I confronted visitors with the extreme consequence of consumption mechanisms.
I used a picture language, which attempts mandate people/blackmail on the basis of innocent elements from nature,
like in this case have been chosen for the symbol of the pullet -- stategie which we know recently of organisations as a
"partij voor de dieren" (PvdD). During the event only 9 cockerels "were saved" by visitors as a result of which I publicly 51
cockerels would have put in the shredder. The Executive Board of the organisation platform21 decided to purchase all the remained
cockerels to prevent they would be killed on the exhibition space.
After the exhibition the organisation platform21 duped the chics at the police station and I got caught by the police because of
having the intention of abusing animals.
organisation platform21 never payed their bill because they claim to be forced to buy the chicks.
Courtesy TORCH Gallery, Amsterdam
contact TINKEBELL: tinkebell-at-tinkebell.com
