ANT EYE
Hanneke Klaver & Tosca Schift
Hanneke Klaver and Tosca Schift are an artist duo who create works that straddle the boundary between design, performance and art. They met at ArtEZ art academy in Arnhem, where they both studied Product Design. Klaver and Schift are inseparable, operating together under the name Ant Eye.
Ant Eye's art is best described as playful, absurdist and slightly magical, focusing on the tension between the everyday and the surreal as a gateway to a world of imagination. 'We embody the objects we create, thus bringing them to life,' says Schift. 'By literally putting ourselves into our work, and experimenting with it, we find perspectives that teach us more about what the role of design could be.'
'For designers, an object is often the final product. At a presentation, such objects stand on a pedestal, accompanied by a brief description. In performance and film, however, the object is just the start. Through time, atmosphere, sound and interaction, you create more room for the object's story,' Klaver explains. It is a journey of discovery, of reading, watching and learning, and it has led Klaver and Schift to the realm of magic realism. Schift: 'The ambiguity, the fact that one thing can contain different truths and stories, really appeals to us. We are not looking for a single essence or meaning, but a plurality of voices. We want to challenge our viewers to find their own meaning. If it means that a work can be hard to figure out at first glance, then that's fine. We intend to seek out this friction even more in the future.'
Text excerpt: Iris Stam
Ant Eye's art is best described as playful, absurdist and slightly magical, focusing on the tension between the everyday and the surreal as a gateway to a world of imagination. 'We embody the objects we create, thus bringing them to life,' says Schift. 'By literally putting ourselves into our work, and experimenting with it, we find perspectives that teach us more about what the role of design could be.'
'For designers, an object is often the final product. At a presentation, such objects stand on a pedestal, accompanied by a brief description. In performance and film, however, the object is just the start. Through time, atmosphere, sound and interaction, you create more room for the object's story,' Klaver explains. It is a journey of discovery, of reading, watching and learning, and it has led Klaver and Schift to the realm of magic realism. Schift: 'The ambiguity, the fact that one thing can contain different truths and stories, really appeals to us. We are not looking for a single essence or meaning, but a plurality of voices. We want to challenge our viewers to find their own meaning. If it means that a work can be hard to figure out at first glance, then that's fine. We intend to seek out this friction even more in the future.'
Text excerpt: Iris Stam