Below are various projects: 3) Terminus (Endstation) 2) Shake Hands 1) Seen from the back
3
“Gspalt” is the Swiss word for glacier crevasse.
After a near-fatal mountain accident in 1976 in the Bernese Oberland with my father and brother, I began a series of artworks in 1989 that were captured in photography, drawings and video recordings of the Bernese Oberland. This led to a series of works that pay tribute to the power of the mountains; the crown jewels of this planet, just as mushrooms are the tips of the root system beneath the earth. The artworks are very different in terms of media and execution. They have one thing in common: they bear witness to the awareness and awe for this earth on which we are allowed to live. The intensive use of these mountains has made me decide to no longer go into the mountains and convert it into artworks. The geometric shape, the triangle, of the mountain Der Niesen symbolises the three people and also reflects the idea of man and the earth. This is shown in the video film 'Endstation' (Terminus 1991), “Das Gleiche aber niemals Dasselbe” (1991-2025) and the installation “Immer gerade aus” (1991) and other works in this Swiss cycle.
3A
Endstation (Terminus) 1991
Meditative images of a mountain are taken from a fixed point of view, at different times of the day and under different weather conditions. 'Terminus' is characterized by a continuous tension between conceptual rigidity on one hand, and manipulations by the artists on the other. This can also be said of the soundtrack, which combines sounds recorded on location with music which was composed especially for this project by Wiel Conen.
'This mountain is a symbol of my Swiss cycle of work, and of the time I spent there since my 16th birthday.' Henk Wijnen.
1992, 01:00:25. In collection: LIMA
presentation in a garage 2002
3B
Das Gleich, aber niemals dasselbe
In August 2025, I was able to add thirteen drawings to the series of 23 drawings of the Mount Niesen from 1993 – the mountain cycle is now complete. By following the geometry of the mountain in the presentation, a congruence with the “Niesen” is created. The title reflects this: “Das Gleiche, aber niemals dasselbe” (The same, but never the same). It is intended as an “ode” to the mountain. Each drawing is 70x100cm.
3C
‘Towards silence of whites and blacks’ 2009
This work shows how the mountain landscape has changed for me. I had not been to this place for more than thirty years. The mountains had been completely transformed from eternal snow to a collapsed landscape of grey and black stones and rocks. Seize 44x100 cm.t
2
Shake Hands 1979 - 20..
is a project that focuses on encounters. The creator encounters himself in different periods of time, in the past, present and future. In the first photograph, he congratulates himself on his future. In the last photograph, half of which is yet to be taken, he congratulates himself on his artistry and legacy.
1
project/commission "VANUIT DE RUG GEZIEN" Asten-Someren 2010
"SEEN FROM THE BACK"
is a project that goes back to August 14, 1944 and is about the two murders of W. Wijnen mayor of Asten and P. Smulders mayor of Someren.They were brutally murdered by the SS as a settlement for the activities of the resistance in this Peel area. Many English planes that were shot down and whose pilots survived were placed with farmers. Most of them managed to return to England via an escape route. The murder of two NSB country guards near Arle-Rixel was the direct reason for the murder of the mayors.
The multi-part object is made of plywood. The stage in two parts forms a cut-out of the flat ground of the Peel. The separation between the two parts of the platform is the Zuid-Willemsvaart canal, where the murder also took place. The two objects made up of two cross-shaped bases are the places Asten and Someren. The two objects placed in the crosses form the figuration of the two mayors. The objects also appear as two chess pieces that have 'crowns' or 'temples'. In the corners of these 'temples' are peepholes through which you can look inside. On display are photos and documents related to the event in 1944, and documents from today. Because documents are still being added to this. Not everything is visible and remains more or less hidden,
The title “Seen from the back” refers directly to the murder(s), to the vulnerable moment of being threatened and murdered. The attitude one adopts when looking through the holes of the temples, into the heads where the knowledge has accumulated, is such a vulnerable moment: this attitude, together with the experience of the content, reflects this vulnerability like a glow.
In 1986 my father showed the photos of the murder for the first time. Immediately a glow came over me. A glow of impotence and sadness that was deeply hidden in my parents' lives.
Six weeks after these murders, my grandmother was fatally struck by shrapnel.
