URBAN CLUTTER
The identity of a city does not consist solely of history, architecture, and administrative policy, but is precisely shaped by the experiences, memories, and perspectives of its inhabitants. In the self-organised exhibition ‘Wie zijn de Stad’ Reynaert explored the symbiotic relationship where the city and its inhabitant form each others identities by asking the question ‘who are the city?’. Together with a small group of international artists they filled up the Moshpit of Creation with paintings, text, prints, illustration, animation and paper sculptures, forming a collage of urban clutter exhibiting the different relationships, experiences and perspective on the city.
The exhibition ended with URBAN CLUTTER punkfest. A night of bands that brought the chaotic city life as a cacophony to the stage. Reynaert sees the DIY punk scene in which they operate as dedicated and involves the scene to question the city and its shifting relationships in which interests, experience, and livability do not always prove to be in balance. The remnants of this festival, together with diverse works Reynaert made for their exhibition, are spilled out in the Graduation Show sharing a glimpse of the city centred chaos that took place.
Reynaert moves in different worlds, from visual arts, education, film and animation, to organiser and performer in underground DIY scenes, all connected to the same emotional and societal engagement that drives Reynaert’s work. These positions were the inspiration of their thesis ‘Makersdrang’ in which Reynaert explores artistic urgency in relation to visual mass culture and contemporary political realities, urging artists to evaluate the context in which their work and practice exists.
URBAN CLUTTER brings together these worlds approaching different ways to explore the diverse relationships that make up the city, as well as bringing together and collaborating with different artists, writers and performers. One of the works exhibited is a collaborative poetic publication called ‘Wij zijn de Stad’’, where Reynaert bundled the stories, thoughts and observations of 14 contributors into a riso-printed booklet avaliable to read at the exhibition. This work, alongside the others, showcases the diversity of eyes, experiences and voices that make up who the city really are.
