GREYZONES | Nabuurs&VanDoorn

GREYZONES | Nabuurs&VanDoorn

Artist duo Nabuurs&VanDoorn have been working on a series of artworks since 2014 under the name “Zwischenlandschaften.” On November 4 in a special afternoon event, they present the publication GREYZONES, which maps their artistic journey. The day includes a special screening of Zwischenlandschaften 3, a tour of the installation Zwischenlandschaften 2_Freeland, and conversations between a number of authors of the new publication about this series. Participants in the conversation are Jeanette Bisschops (curator, art critic, and writer), Oscar van den Boogaard (curator and writer), Marie de Brugerolle (writer and curator), Andrea Wiarda (writer, editor, and curator), and Steven ten Thije (Head of Collections Van Abbemuseum).

The Van Abbemuseum has supported this series in various ways in recent years. For example, Zwischenlandschaften 3 (2018) and Zwischenlandschaften 3 Game Piece 3 (2020) are included in the collection and Zwischenlandschaften 2_Freeland (2014–22) can be seen in the exhibition Delinking and Relinking in the Collection of the Van Abbemuseum (2021–25).

GREYZONES is published by Kunstverein Publishing Milano. Graphic design: Ilse Meulendijks

About “Zwischenlandschaften”
The “Zwischenlandschaften” series is an important next step in the oeuvre of Nabuurs&VanDoorn. Their work, which is based on in-depth (archival) research, explores the complex, rich, and critical exchange between modernity, art, and history. This covers very diverse subjects such as a Swiss mountain pass, an old woodworking factory in Eindhoven, a villa in Brussels, a road in Detroit, labor paradises in Milan, and a ghost forest in Fontainebleau. The works reflect on special and sometimes uncomfortable histories that they turn inside out. The artists translate their research into physical works of art and performances, which often take place outdoors.

The term “Zwischenlandschaften” refers to the ideas of sociologist Lucius Burckhardt (1925–2003). “It is up to painters and poets to make the landscape visible,” Burckhardt once said to point out the fact that in modern times, when everything is accelerating, we see less and less of what is there. We only recognize what we already know, just as we can no longer recognize details in the landscape from a moving train. Nabuurs&VanDoorn highlight or isolate what goes unnoticed and approach history itself as a landscape. They analyze archival documents, conduct field research that they record on maps, and carry out interventions in natural or urban landscapes. By making combinations or isolating things, the works make familiar things appear new and it becomes possible to wonder again about their possible meaning.

The publication is generously supported by: Cultuur Eindhoven, Kunstloc Brabant, Provincie Noord-Brabant en Kunstverein Milano