La Machine

LA MACHINE

Autonomy and independence are considered important in our society, and is often a big part of one’s identity. In my case, being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, it is no longer self-evident that the body carries out actions, sometimes not even the simplest. These experiences lead to alienation, fear and an instrumental vision towards the body. With the loss of the certainty of a functioning body, the identity is also compromised. Who I am, and how the disease influences my identity is something I explore in this project.

This project is supported by Mondriaan Fund and Amsterdamse Fonds voor de Kunsten

ARTIST STATEMENT

Amsterdam-based visual artist Phelim Hoey (b. 1984, NL/IE) studied documentary photography at the School of the Arts (HKU) in Utrecht, the Netherlands. Here, in his first days at art school, Hoey encountered a series of optical difficulties. These difficulties were among the early symptoms of MS, a neurological illness with which he was formally diagnosed a few months later. His practice would subsequently acquire new meaning as a possible agent of healing, offering an important creative outlet for studying his condition, as well as the potential for tracing the ever-changing relationship he experiences with his body.

Incorporating a varied range of media – whether photography, film, ceramics or sculptural installation – Hoey’s work can be read as a form of conceptual storytelling. In fragile materials, or delicate still-lives depicting precariously-balanced objects, his works are wrought with a pronounced sense of vulnerability and tension. Small traces of annotated medical documents, obscured by fragmented sketching and images, recall clinical understandings of Hoey’s condition: a distant language that rarely speaks to the nuances of his own experience. Elsewhere, Hoey deploys quasi-scientific studies of motion – referencing photographic pioneers like Eadward Muybridge and Etienne-Jules Marey _ underlining yet further the separation he observes between the physical body and his broader sense of ‘self’.

© Phelim Hoey - My body setting a trap for itself
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My body setting a trap for itself

© Phelim Hoey - Nicholas with cane
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Nicholas with cane

© Phelim Hoey - chronophotography of Nicholas walking with his cane
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chronophotography of Nicholas walking with his cane

© Phelim Hoey - Diary entry with porcelain replica of my arm
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Diary entry with porcelain replica of my arm

© Phelim Hoey - Mold of my arm with pain points
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Mold of my arm with pain points

© Phelim Hoey - Motion study
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Motion study

© Phelim Hoey - Fatigue study of Renate sorting her medicine
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Fatigue study of Renate sorting her medicine

© Phelim Hoey - Motion study
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Motion study

© Phelim Hoey - Porcelain replica of my leg
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Porcelain replica of my leg

© Phelim Hoey - Saskia
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Saskia

© Phelim Hoey - Boaz with cane
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Boaz with cane

© Phelim Hoey - Pascalle stepping over a chair
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Pascalle stepping over a chair

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