Dissertation

Locvs : Memory and Transience in the Representation of Place: From Italic Domus to Artistic Environment

As an artist Clevis is fascinated by the phenomenon of place in relation to beginnings and final destinations.

Author

Krien Clevis

Date

17 October 2013

Links

Leiden Repository

This study links up the concept of place with memory, with the idea of transience and the transition from life to death. Clevis' main research question addressed the following concern: how can I present my work in a way so that it both comprises a representation of place and emerges or exists as a place itself? As her research was geared toward places of meaning, she also aspired to create new places of meaning. Her search for them involved a journey through time and space – not just à la recherche du temps perdu, but also à la recherche du lieu perdu. Clevis' research expanded into various areas that are somewhat affiliated with art, namely archeology, architecture and (art)history. Through her photo works and the installation she created, Clevis intends to share a visual story with the audience and find a way in which viewers of the work may appropriate the story and add to it by mobilizing their own perceptions. Her reflections on the quality and characteristics of place took her to the classical houses found in Pompeii and the ancient tombs of Rome and Cerveteri. The connection between these spatial manifestations of life and death as two extremes is essential to Clevis. Her historical research made her aware that as an artist she is part of long tradition indeed. As such the artistic sightline cuts across the historical sightline in this work, to which she also added a more personal, autobiographical sightline as a third meaningful dimension.