PRESENT:

still: Someday you will forget yourself, 4k video, 21min

28/9 till 3/11 at Kunsthuis SYB - the Triannual of Beetsterzwaag.

About the video work
Steven Jouwersma attempts to transcend barriers that exist amidst neurologically divergent perceptions of being in the world. The practice of ‘forgetting yourself’ is conceived as an experience in the physical world made possible through a simultaneous meditation on perception itself. It presents the relations within diverse concepts and experiences ranging from Zen Buddhism to activities performed by his mother. Adjacent to this, Steven has researched the concept of snoezelen rooms. The verb “snoezelen” is a combination of the Dutch verbs “snuffelen” (to seek and explore) and “doezelen” (to relax).  Snoezel spaces are specifically designed for this practice and are found in care institutions and schools for neurodiverse people. These ideas combined form the potentials for exploration into a flexible relation between the self and reality.

The Triannual of Beetsterzwaag.
with: Sol Archer – Olivia D’Cruz – Philipp Gufler – Ola Hassanain – Antonio de la Hera & Honey Jones-Hughes – it is part of an ensemble (bas van den hurk & Reinout Scholten van Aschat & Jochem Laarhoven) –  Publik Universal Frxnd (fka Richard John Jones) – Steven Jouwersma – Sanne Kabalt – Alban Karsten – Pia Louwerens & Katinka van Gorkum – Pilar Mata Dupont & Erika Roux – Charlotte Eta Mumm – Cosy Pièro – Rory Pilgrim – Liza Prins – Carmen Schabracq – Selma Selman – Wessel Verrijt – Louwrien Wijers

Curated by Arnisa Zeqo and Titus Nouwens

Common Bread Sauna, permanent sauna, built from wood found on the Island. Mostly the old bridge.
The sauna is heated by a Pizza stove that yes, indeed. bakes pizza while heating the sauna.

more pictures : instagram post

The Sauna was built during a residency at Waterwerken curated by Maurice Meewisse.
I found that the community surrounding Buitenplaats van Brienenoord was so full of life that a Sauna would be carried by that energy, meanwhile food was being made and the need of a bread oven was expressed. I, as an Artist in residence for 6 weeks, in the midst of it all looking for an urgency to make art, to generate a meaningful exchange with the place and it’s surrounding stumbled on so many synchronicities. Finding an old stove in the work-shed, like a first wink, finding a bulk of wood with a history to the island, finding excellent swimming water. It just was inevitable. It became a perfect storm. after that, building, welding a custom stove and a functioning sauna into one was like alchemy. Like how every sauna should be, a combination of variables, of heat, humidity, ventilation, seating positions and general atmosphere. Alchemy, how piece of dough is made and how every cooking session should be. Symbioses between sauna and cooking is a dream come true.

Thanks to all involved, the help of Maurice (2x) Leander and all peeps from the Buitenplaats. Been a blast.
Shout out to Stan, Lio and Maurice for doing all the sauna care and fire mastering!

Common Bread Sauna can be visited
every friday evening since april 2022.
for a Sauna session and Pizza. 6 euro.

Buitenplaats, Eiland van Brienenoord - Rotterdam.
https://www.instagram.com/buitenplaatsbrienenoord/
and https://www.buitenplaatsbrienenoord.nl/
or email me jouwersma@gmail.com for any questions.
Ps. no strict rules regarding bath clothing or non-clothing.
it’s mixed mostly, do as you please with Common sense. x

PAST:

 
 

Perhaps, Maybe, 2024, acrylic on panel, 26 by 34 cm

Part of the group show: Terminus Moortenbeek at Komplot, Brussels, June 2024
on invitation by Kasper de Meulenmeester and Jacob Van den Broucke.

Moortenbeek, a neighbourhood and garden village in the Belgian municipality of Anderlecht in the
Brussels Capital Region, is the starting point for the show Terminus Moortebeek.
After a long walk in Moortenbeek in the pouring rain together with Kasper we talked mostly about entities, ideology and hauntology.

I made a series of 6 paintings that depict the ghosts of this utopian aspiration that seem to haunt these places.

A coproduction with 
nadine – laboratory of contemporary arts

With the support of
Fédération Wallonie – Bruxelles, VGC, COCOF,
Cultuurdienst Anderlecht, Dutch Embassy and MUS-E

Phantom Limb, office chair, electronics, wood, painting, stones.
Part of the groupshow: Everything is on the one, Arti Amecitea, 2024 till 6 April.
Initiated and curated by: Frederique Jonker, Mike Moonen, Sander van Noort and Marcel van den Berg

more pics: instagram post

A familiar form, an archetypal office chair, serves as the basis for a new sculptural collaboration between Alban Karsten and Steven Jouwersma. Appendages such as wooden sculptural handles, sound, movement and painted elements are applied to this alleged piece of furniture, enabling Alban and Steven to merge their art practices into one object.

Unobtrusively, the chair rotates from left to right. On the back of the chair, a small gong gently moves around via a cable track, occasionally hitting a chunk of meteorite dangling above it. The chair slots itself in a rich DIY-tradition of modified chairs for self-improvement – within which all sorts of do-it-yourselfers try to enhance their sex lives, lift their sense of gravity or watch birds for as long as possible without moving. Phantom Limb presents a chair that its creators believe can facilitate contact between different realms, through its continuous back-and-forth rotational movement, its adjusted height that prevents one's feet from touching the floor, and the high-pitched sound of the gong that occasionally strikes and resonates for a long time.

In this collaboration, Alban and Steven explore the boundary between useful, serviceable things, and things we recognize as art. A performative influence on this concept is the early work of Mike Kelly who presented his objects as “demonstrative sculptures”. Alban and Steven aim to dissect and liberate the obscure function of this object, by making it permanently resonate through the addition of subtle sounds and movement. 

Alban Karsten is an artist who makes extensive use of lost crafts in his sculptural work. His recent performative work explores lamentations. Steven Jouwersma is an artist who combines painting, performance, sculpture and audio as magical-realist propositions.

Curation, concept and scenography
for apass.be - december 2023

Clearance Sale - live auction of material assets of a.pass

           in support of Gaza relief
           hosted by Gary Farrelly and special guest Elke Van Campenhout

a.pass is entering a period of reevaluation, reimagination, and ultimately reorganisation. As part of this process, the institution is liquidating an overwhelming abundance of materials accumulated over the years. Items available for purchase include furniture, fixtures, lighting, art, office supplies, props, cables, electronics, artifacts, curiosities, catering supplies, mystery materials, not to forget the dance floor and much more. The sale will take the form of a garage sale, with larger, high-value items going under the auction hammer. Gary Farrelly will oversee the sale together with special guest Elke Van Campenhout. All proceeds from the liquidation will be donated to aid relief efforts in Gaza. The Cultural Emergency Fund of HOPE foundation offers many local artists and teachers the opportunity to support children who are suffering the consequences of war and destruction. More info: HOPE foundation 

update:
THANK YOU ALL for being present at a.pass Clearance Sale on December 9.
It was a tremendous pleasure to see all of you and to celebrate together the ending of an era. The end of a.pass as we all know it. The auction was for us a very pleasant moment, a ritual to say goodbye, but also a moment to gather and to support the people in Palestine. As we mentioned before, all proceeds from the liquidation will be donated to aid relief efforts in Gaza. And we are very happy to announce that we collected €4.677,50 !!!