“Central to my interest when working on Plague was the concept Solastalgia. It is a sociological term coined by environmental philosopher Glenn Albrecht that describes a form of mental or existential distress caused by climate trauma which is changing our shared habitat. This is what compelled me to tell the story from the point of view of the housefly. Usually the housefly is regarded as a domestic pest, an invasive species that plagues our homes. However, compared to the melodramatic housewife, here the housefly is very articulate. It functions as the messenger between the indoor and outdoor worlds, breaking up the confines of the housewife’s psyche.”

In Plague various scales of Solastalgia unfold; comparing the Earth, the domestic home and the personal psyche as interconnected habitats of suffering. By damaging the Earth we are damaging ourselves, and so along with the current urgent ecological breakdown,
there is also a looming collective psychological breakdown.

Plague, 2019
single channel video installation, 04:51 min. looped
HD projection, sound system, ‘french fries’ cardboard sculptures
in various size approx. 244x45x45 cm, produced site specfically

Edition of 2 including installation, edition of 3 video excluding installation
Plague was co-commissioned by DordtYart / Mondriaan Fund and acquired by the Zabludowicz Collection, the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo, Servais Family Collection, EKARD collection, Blue Knowledge Art Collection.