Matthijs Hannink has a background in the Gothic music scene, a scene well known for its appropriation and excessive use of symbols. The artist translates this visual language to his sculptural practice, casting several iconic symbols in concrete. The Facebook logo, the hammer and sickle, a star-shaped polygon and several less recognizable forms are cast and composed in stacks in the style of gravestones, on top of which is projected a newsfeed showing the viewer snippets of news reports from various sources such as CNN. The symbols Hannink presents to us are sometimes so familiar that we can no longer recognize their broader meanings. The stacks seem to suggest that all icons will eventually lose their capability to generate new meanings, ending up in a graveyard of worn out ideologies.

Text by Youri Guepin