Veenweg 28 Weerdinge The Netherlands, Monday September 20-1976
5 years after the realisation and just two kilometers north northwest from one of the most important
land-art works world wide
(Broken circle spiral hill - Robert Smithson 1971),
On a quiet and sunny September day a child was born, no wise men or kings,
just his mom, dad and sister around..
Johannes-Harm Hovinga, Weerdinge Monday September 20-1976
No one could imagine that that the work of Robert Smithson would influence his change in life 35 years later.
LETS PRESS FAST FORWARD.
2012 death looked like a sunny place in paradise.
A little black spot slowly growing in years, managing my life around it.
In 2012, after 10 years of running a business in garden and landscaping I made a choice, giving up everything I ever known.
The moment I chose for a life in art, Inspired by my childhood (where I was fascinated by the work of Robert Smithson / Broken circle spiral hill) I chose to manage my depression and not my life around it.
A choice for the person I am, the impact I want to leave on others in our fragmented society.
I chose for a life in art, what was I thinking?
2020, after years of experimenting, traveling, making mistakes, being homeless for a while, hurting people, making bigger mistakes climbing up and faling down, learning about life, learning what love means, and the most important learning to accept my self in being me.
It’s me Johannes-Harm Hovinga, I don’t need a mask, no pseudoniem, just me with my not so fancy name at all in the art world..
My way of seeing art changed in those years, and more how do I see myself in the art world.
What is art about for me?
In my opinion, art is about reflection and our perception of time and space what is framed by our thoughts.
Art is a way to stimulate self-reflection, to stimulate our perspective of time and space.
Thats why it is not only what do you get from my work as a viewer? but what do we create together.
In my profession as an artist I think in art we also have a responsibility,
we have the responsibility to make visible what is invisible,
we have the responsibility to record what should not be forgotten,
we have the responsibility to speak up for those who cannot,
we have the responsibility to create awareness,
I find my inspiration and passion in everyday life, my curiosity about and for life. The way in which I live and the choices I make and i've made, lead to admiration from some and envy or even dislike from others. This dialectic works as an inspiration for me to seek further challenges, to confront people in their natural habitat, their daily life.
Always searching in the dark corners of our society and questioning the society in which we live. Provoking and disturbing in the search for new answers, inspiring and connecting people in our fragmented society.
Johannes-Harm Hovinga 2020
my first steps in the art world
WHERE IT ALL STARTED: 2012
I really didn't know what I was getting into..
First steps, like a baby who tries to stand and falls. where you have not yet mastered the balance
FRAGMENTED SOCIETY 1
Where it all started in 2012, 110m2, Emmen the Netherlands.
FRAGMENTED SOCIETY 2
Fragmented society 2
In the end of 2012 the organisation of the Elephant parade in Trier Germany contacted me to be part of this outdoor exhibition and auction in Trier Germany in 2013 to raise awareness for need of elephant welfare and conservation,
For this I made this work based on Fragmented society 1.
The orange shoaling fishes on the elephant are a representing of the people in our society who are very well connected trough social media by facebook, twitter, instagram.. But more and more people stand alone in our fragmented society, and we are more divided than ever.