DIA - EXIT

2008  - 2023 | Photoslide installation | +- 40 000 private slides, pneumatics, projectors parts, wood, glass, industrial shredder, electronics, leaf blowers

In his installation DIA EXIT Steven Jouwersma built a device that let's you see a slide for the very last time, before it's destroyed by the exact same device. He collected the slides from people all over the Netherlands and range from an unusual great moment of holiday pictures taken in Austria to pictures of birthdays, weddings and other family events

But what all these slides have in common is that they all show moments in a persons life that he or she thought were worth capturing on a photograph. Despite their importance, these slides however haven't been looked at for years. Lacking a projector, family members who inherited the slides were often unsure what was actually on them.

With DIA-EXIT, Steven Jouwersma created the opportunity to see these photographs again, reinstating their previous importance. However they can only be watched once, since the device that shows them also destroys them afterwards. This creates a rather unsettling feeling for the audience, because being able to see the next slide, means destroying the previous.

DIA-EXIT is a work with great ambiguity. Jouwersma shows us slides that are beautifully melancholic and gives us an unusual insight in people's personal lives. Although sometimes you desire not destroy the slide, the desire to see the next insightful picture is even greater, resulting in an audience that will always, reluctantly, push the button. (Text by Feiko Beckers)

The photoslides were collected by posting advertisements in local newspapers to offer a home baked apple-pie for unwanted slide collections. This resulted in a heap of responses and during the exchange of pie for slides the above video was made.

LINKS
The making of Dia-Exit 2 Lots of pictures, movies and soap. (dutch)
Dia Exit 1 / Tschumipaviljoen Groningen 2006 Pictures and movie (english and dutch)
Dia Exit 2 / V_2 Institute for the unstable Media - Rotterdam 2007 interview text by Arie Altena (English and Dutch)

Has been shown in many different forms at:
KASK zwarte zaal, Gent - Zaal 5, The Hague - V2 Institute for unstable media, Rotterdam - Tschumipaviljoen, Groningen - l‘ancienne imprimerie, Brussel - Nadine, Photo Festival, Brussel.

Thanks to: Feiko Beckers (Camera, Driver) and all people with whom I had the pleasure to visit and adopt their slide collections.

Supported by: Zaal 5, V_2 Institute for the Unstable Media, Tschumipaviljoen, KASK, Mondriaan Fonds.