DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
– A solo project by Danielle Lemaire at the Hilvaria Studios Hilvarenbeek. September 15 , 2022 – January 18, 2023.
Five public events, every second Sunday of the month.
Installations, films, drawings, artist talk, performances and DAF cars.
The project came to being in collaboration with Le Bonheur Group, Hilvaria Studio Foundation, Tineke Schuurmans, DAF Museum Eindhoven, Garage De Limbeek, De LINK Tilburg, The Mondriaanfonds and everyone involved.
For The Hilvaria Studios, at that beautiful place in the middle of the forests of Hilvarenbeek, I was able to create new art and show it in several layered multimedia forms in several rooms. The collage character of the Studios; a composition of various architectural interventions and reuse of elements from the past, such as pillars of the former Kodak pavilion of Expo 58, appealed to the imagination. I wanted to include lines and layers, volumes and acoustics, the daily practices of the people in the building, the ceremonies, the hidden, the relationship with nature and Brabant history as elements in a ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’. I did research for more than a year, took the time to make series of large and small drawings, interviewed those involved, made (sound) sculptures, photos, films, installations; created projections with plants and flowers from the area and devised the performances that coincided with the public presentations. Thanks to the special collaboration with the DAF Museum and my car garage De Limbeek in Eindhoven, former DAF cars returned to the photo studio where they were originally photographed; the egg. This made them an important part of the exhibition. In the Hilvaria Studios I emphasized the architecture, the acoustics in several rooms and the spiritual character of the rituals that take place almost every day: wedding ceremonies (starting a new life) and funerals (saying goodbye). The drawings in the Leuven Hall became part of and coincided with many ceremonies that took place there. In the Control Room, which is adjacent to coach King of Hearts’ practice room, I created a spatial contemplative walk for passers-by. During the ongoing process, collections of stories, drawings, objects, films, photos and audio works came together, which were shown and mixed in different forms in five public events, each on a Sunday a month. Big thanks go to the DAF Museum and Hans Höhner for the use of unique historical images.
The films I made during D.A.F. can be seen online on my YouTube channel. www.youtube.com/@daniellelemaire7649
