A Two Dogs Company
FRIEZE

FRIEZE consists of two projections of enlarged figures, standing up straight. They are cramped inside a small, tall box that slowly revolves on a central horizontal axis. They wait. They try to keep straight, but their bodies insist on contorting in the confined space. Nevertheless they persevere in maintaining their dignity. Keeping up appearances. Their bodies sink and turn, pressing against the constricting walls, until the man and the woman are completely upside down. They then slowly pull themselves upright again, they straighten their clothes and look ahead as if nothing happened.

In FRIEZE Kris Verdonck continues to work on the theme of earlier projections, e.g. STILLS, DUMP and D’OR. The figures are typical ‘Verdonck-personages’: business types, neatly dressed, civilised and modern, but all stuck in a system, in an untenable situation. But they don’t ask questions. They maintain their faith. Persistance is the message.

The personages in FRIEZE could be considered to be a modern version of the caryatids: the humanly figures that often replaced pillars in classical architecture. They were functional as well as ornamental and emanated power. The caryatids in FRIEZE, on the other hand, display their vulnerability in the extreme.