Fundamental Mechanics
Alex Crouwers
The Plot
Diorama: The_Plot / Three Trees, day/night sequence
Loop based on a photogrammetric model of three tree stumps at The Plot (September 2020, 51° 24‘ 49.8” N - 5° 39‘ 19.9” E). Three tree stumps were left for birds to sit on after a small forest - now called 'The Plot' - was cleared due to a climate change induced fatal spruce bark beetle infestation. The stumps resemble a monument, and are treated as such; they're being 'charged' with emblems and plaquettes related to The Plot's demise. 2020 Seamless loop MP4, 1080 x 1080, 1'00", colour/silent ed. 6
Loading OBJKT data...Grief
Photogrammetric model of a decaying tree stump Photos taken Dec. 17, 2020 at 51° 24‘ 49.8” N 5° 39‘ 19.9” E (The Plot). This is the decaying top of one of three tree stumps that were left after the clearance of a small spruce forest in September 2019. All primary proceedings of this NFT will benefit laststandforforests.com, helping to protect Canada's severely threatened old growth rainforests. 2020-2021 Photogrammetric model, 32,9 MB ed. 60
Loading OBJKT data...Infographic: The_Plot / Three Trees, the letter P, & The Face of Solastalgia
Loop based on a photogrammetric model of three tree stumps at The Plot (May 2021, 51° 24‘ 49.8” N - 5° 39‘ 19.9” E). Three tree stumps were left for birds to sit on after a small forest - now called 'The Plot' - was cleared due to a climate change induced fatal spruce bark beetle infestation. The stumps resemble a monument, and are treated as such; they're being 'charged' with emblems and plaquettes related to The Plot's demise, and are encircled with a wood wall. The top of one of the stumps is the face of ecological grief (top right). In the background: the letter 'P' in Ips typography (a font based on spruce bark beetle tunnel patterns). 2021 Seamless loop MP4, 1080 x 1080, 1'28", colour/silent ed. 6
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Lower Paleolithic French Acheulean hand axe model via Research Labs of Archaeology, University of NC (CC0 Public Domain). 2021 Seamless loop MP4, 1920 x 1920, 1'28", colour/silent ed. 6
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Fundamental Mechanics 49/52
‘Fundamental Mechanics’ is a series in 52 chapters. The ultrashort animations were made in 2019 on a mediocre iPhone using the Instagram stories feature while researching 16th-century visual culture. The emblema were constructed from prefab components such as emojis and stickers, some designed by myself for a now-defunct Giphy account. 2019 GIF, 150 frames, 360 x 639 ed. 12
Loading OBJKT data...Alex Crouwers
← Back to ProfileThe works of Alexandra Crouwers (The Netherlands, º1974) arise in the x, y and z axes of her virtual studio. There, she builds designs for woven tapestries and wallpaper, digital dioramas, and boundless sets for video installations. Her multi-faceted practice addresses deep concerns about ecological collapse, and our detached relation to wilderness. Like an expert time-traveler Crouwers shuttles between deep history and the far future, using literature, cinema, evolutionary biology and contemporary visual culture as companions. Alexandra lives and works in Antwerp (Belgium) and is currently working on a PhD in arts in animation at Leuven University/LUCA School of Arts, Brussels. Her research is focused on dealing with ecological grief in relation to a ‘real world’ location: a former family forest that had to be cleared due to a climate-change related bark beetle infestation. “Until recently, I would describe escapism as my core-business, and science-fiction as my genre. Due to the upheaval of a virus and a growing public awareness of the severity of our ecological crises, my work has inadvertently shifted to activism.” Crouwers graduated at the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam in 2001. Film screenings include Uppsala Short Film Festival, Transmediale (Berlin), Portable Film Festival (Sydney/Melbourne), and Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival (UK). Exhibitions include S.M.A.K. Museum (Ghent, B), and Le Fresnoy, Studio National des Arts Contemporains (Tourcoing, FR).