For her first solo exhibition in the Netherlands, Peruvian artist Andrea Canepa (Lima, 1980) has de Appel's Aula space at her disposal as the venue for her ongoing investigation into the organisation of the physical and social structures, or organisational systems, that shape our daily lives. Canepa shows that while the spatial and architectural parameters of these organisational systems may seem clearly marked, their programme - how they are used - is often unclear. An ambiguity based on the fact that the boundaries of almost all aspects of human interaction are ambiguous. In addition to the performative characteristics of An Interior Motion, Canepa makes this ambiguity clear through the 1:1 scale of her sculptures. By juxtaposing the architectural narratives of the monumental interior with human movement, the possible social realities of this building's past and present open up, and with them the possibilities of reinterpreting the space and its many meanings.
The social, economic and cultural reality surrounding the building where de Appel is housed has changed significantly over the years, and so has its function. After a period of hosting asylum seekers in the Netherlands, it became what it is today: a cultural hotbed, in an area of Amsterdam in an accelerated state of gentrification. The building's exterior, though outdated, has remained largely intact. The interior, however, reveals the remarkable changes in the programme. Every part of the building's evolution leaves remnants of its use, exposed as much by the architectural constraints of the design as the programmes created to fit into it.
While one could see these programmes as instructions, Canepa prefers to approach them as forms of clear play indications, and as Dutch sociologist Johan Huizinga conceived it: as the measure of all socio-cultural interaction in society. In the case of An Interior Motion the building and the unique interior of the auditorium together form the infrastructure of this game. The functional and decorative elements are the game pieces.
This game is the performative part of the work - whether this is Canepa's own choreography, or that of de Appel's visitors, who are invited to climb, move and move the pieces on this game board. Bringing all these elements together changes the scenography of the architectural details, the possible programmes and thus the resulting meaning. It shows that play as performative practice and spatial reality offers new perspectives on theatrical and social experiences. Play becomes a fictional construction that produces social, historical and cultural interpretations. Play is choreography, and choreography becomes play, where new relationships with the environment form and unexpected possibilities and stories can emerge in that in-between space.
An Interior Motion
Andrea Canepa
02-07-2022 to 28-08-2022
The Apple
Schipluidenlaan 12
1062 HE Amsterdam
Opening hours:
Wed-Sun: 12:00-18:00
English (UK) 
Nederlands 
Français 
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