Verbógen Verbrijzeld

Verbógen Verbrijzeld (Shattered Scattered) examines how white light can be splintered and bended – how you can become one with matter.

In the solo exhibition by Philip Vermeulen you will get to know his newly developed ‘hyper-sculptures’, which shatter and mechanically scatter white light into thousands pieces of color. The roar of colors, the pinching sound and the wind of the fast spinning machines give you an intense physical experience. Within a meta-composition the works are in constant dialogue with each other, submerging you in the dynamics between human and machine.

Philip Vermeulen is a The Hague-based artist who makes large-scale installations. His installations are  part of his ongoing research in altering psychological states through the manipulation of primary phenomena of light, sound, and movement. Vermeulen creates what he calls ‘hypersculptures’: kinetic sculptures which move at such high speeds they change our perception of the physical properties of these materials.

His work has been shown at locations from museums (Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Stedelijk Museum Schiedam, Rijksmuseum Twenthe) to art spaces (W139, Arti et Amicitae), clubs (Berghain Berlin) media festivals (Novas Frequências Rio de Janeiro, Ars Electronica Linz, TodaysArt, CTM Berlin), and outdoors (Into the Great Wide Open, Vlieland). In 2020 Vermeulen’s installation More Moiré² has been nominated for The Volkskrant Visual Art Prize and was also one of the nominee’s for The Golden Calf (in Dutch: Gouden Kalf) in the category of Best Interactive 2020.

This exhibition is made possible in part by: Stroom Den Haag, Mondriaan Fonds, Gemeente Amsterdam, Kickstart Cultuur Fonds en PIP Den Haag.

Under Bat Hill

Under Bat Hill is a group exhibition that imagines the W139 as a glorious cavern in the middle of the city. Isolated from the outside world and its dwellers, this huge space is activated through a daily program of screenings and listening sessions.

At 19:35 on the 22nd of April, 2020, Pope Francis tweeted, [When we are in a state of sin we are like “human bats” who can move about only at night. We find it easier to live in darkness because the light reveals to us what we do not want to see. But then our eyes grow accustomed to darkness and we no longer recognize the light.] His tweet received hundreds of replies including one from @GiveBatsABreak who began, [On the contrary Holy Father, the darkness brings to the bat precisely that which it DOES want to face, not what it doesn’t. Bats are not under the cover of night committing crimes for which it should be ashamed, but providing invaluable services to our ecosystems and communities.] Through a series of further tweets, @GiveBatsABreak pushes beyond the pope’s casual anthropomorphic description, detailing how bats benefit both the environment and the economy.

Under Bat Hill presents a selection of works that too seek to move their subjects beyond casual remit. Subjects that exist in the world outside the cavern under bat hill.

Foto’s door Jeroen de Smalen.