Delusions of self-immolation

source: v2nl

The installation Delusions of self-immolation will lead a great number of visitors to ask themselves where the boundaries of their own body lie and why one would wish to discover them. Erik Hobijn has built a machine in which one may almost look death in the face, and that, equipped with fire and water spraying devices, sets light to the victim and extinguishes the flames, standing in the middle of a platform. During the course of the festival Erik Hobijn will give demonstrations.

The borders of the body are hard to define in terms of averages, because they are closely related to the psyche that demonstrates the physical limits. Despite its extremely physical nature, the way in which it is experienced is determined by personal fears, dreams and desires. Erik Hobijn’s machine unleashes such strong emotional responses because it forces the person to be the guardian and researcher of their own body limits. It is a life of initialization toward self development, with its own warmth and beauty..
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source: vimeo
The installation-performance “Delusions of Self-Immolation” questions the boundaries of the body. Erik Hobijn’s machine, equipped with fire and water spraying devices, sets fire to the victim and extinguishes the flames, standing in the middle of a platform. This documentation shows one of Erik Hobijn’s demonstrations, and interviews the artist (in Dutch).
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source: v2nl

Erik Hobijn is a media and machine artist with Dutch nationality, and who lives in Berlin. He is the founder of the Techno-Parasites and founding member of the Dutch art group Netband. He made several extreme installations in which fire is an important part of the work. The installation Dante Organ consists of 12 flame throwers controlled by a computer, and Delusions of Self-Immolation is a machine of controlled self arson. Other installations include the interactive smell installation Olfactoric Nervous System.

He participated in the V2_ book Book for the Electronic Arts. He is author of the lecture Techno-Parasites, Bringing the Machinic Unconscious to Life.