Amusia

These two artists joined forces for the occasion after discovering a mutual childhood memory; they both spent their youth discovering the numerous possibilities of playing with a doll's house. 

In her video projection showing a small girl avidly 'riding' the roof of her doll's house, Abbenes therefore asks the question "House or Horse?" Innocence, but also harsh movements. In her fantasy, the fragile little girl is stepping into the wide world; the awareness of identity, but also of budding sexuality.

This is also true of the mechanical doll's house (Bain's 'over-sized kiddie ride' object) on which 'The aged child' (the public) is invited to take a seat and embark on a wild ride. This is the place where we once again become children, but where our lack of innocence almost literally causes a minor earthquake.

Despite the accompanying narrative, Bain's object, a cross between an oversized doll's house and a mechanical bull, is still astonishingly typical of his work. A series of mechanical (sound) actions that literally rock the very foundations of a number of art installations. Abbenes previously excelled with her videos about female country singers and her 3D-sculptures of children's drawings.

Amusia is a perfect fusion of these two works. The installation tells of nostalgia, the passing of time and the first sexual encounters. The tone, the timbre and the sheer scale of the installation are also a source of great amusement. The joining of forces of these two artists provided them with the freedom to indulge themselves to the full.