KABOEM!

A collaboration between:
Pendar Nabipour, Julie Müller, and Nasim Razavian
Studios Borgerstraat during the 2022 Rotterdam Art Week,
Rotterdam, May 2022

KABOEM! Is an initiative of three artists Julie Müller, Pendar Nabipour, and Nasim Razavian. It is a spatiotemporal piece exhibited at Open Studios Borgerstraat during the 2022 Rotterdam Art Week. The title reflects the sound of collision and it is the Dutch version of the onomatopoeia “KABOOM!” Or “KA-BOEM!” in Comic Strip books.

The project is a temporary play-ground; an interactive piece made together with the audience about the moment of transformation of matter from one condition to another. We wanted to work with the notions of destruction and construction and the multiple sensations that exist in these seemingly contradictory actions. We were fascinated by the very moment of colliding when and where the two bodies (human and material) meet and make an impact on one another and we wanted to save the traces of such moments and construct spaces through that.

The project has a high sensitivity towards materials and their breaking points. For example, how do different papers tear when you punch them? How do different ceramics break as you throw them? What sort of feelings or responses are entangled with this moment of transgression?

The project was constructed collectively by the artists and the visitors resulting in five different pieces. (1) The first artwork is a paper hung at the door frame, and in order to enter the exhibition room one has to tear this paper through their body. The paper will be replaced from time to time by the artists. (2) The second experience is climbing up a ladder and throwing ceramic pieces in a paper tube that is hung from the ceiling. The broken ceramics will form a pile under the paper tube. The broken ceramic pile will be revealed after the show (3) In the third artwork the artists and the audience collectively punch papers. Two people will hold the two sides of the paper and one punches it. The results of these punches are then stacked on a glass table designed specifically for this piece. (4) Other punched papers will end up in another piece: a frame that is positioned in front of the window. The light coming from the window illuminates the multiple layers and fractal lines of punched papers from behind. (5) A U-shaped hung paper-curtain creates the boundaries of the space and intensifies the experience and creates the play-ground.

During and after the exhibition all of the traces of the moments of impact have been documented and archived.

text and documentation produced by the artists, page content sourced from studio ilinx