A tree house, a free house

A place to hide in the city

Zippora Elders FEBRUARI 2013

Now that winter is coming to an end, it seems as if something magical is flourishing in the BOOKSTORE PROJECT SPACE. Still from a distance one can already see that a brown growth fills the space. After approaching it appears to be some kind of tree house, built around little trees that stand on the floor. The whole dominates the space: shelfs and timbers – varying in material and colour – move different ways, also it is necessary to walk around the twigs carefully, shapes light up and shadows dance trough the gallery. It is as if the different parts try to go to the trees outside, that kindly wave from the oppositing square. At the top the installation almost goes trough the ceiling. Upstairs the tale is continued with a wonderful light city of glass jars.

Inspiration and play

Tessa Hendriks was trained at the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht as a teacher in visual arts. She also specialized in installation and sculpture at the Koninklijke Academie voor Schone Kunsten Antwerpen. Urban environments and interactions with inhabitants fascinate her, yet at the same time she is a romantic who gives shape to her dreams

individually. Fairytales offer her inspiration in the real world; according to her playing is allowed lifelong. Through a process of deconstruction Hendriks creates small realities. The past years her works have become larger and more spatial. Her attractive structures make fantasy and imagination tangible. They offer an escape right in the core of urban reality, not soloist and melancholic, but social and free.

Public tree house

The BOOKSTORE PROJECT SPACE is perfect for a public tree house. The white walls and large windows frame the work, everyone is welcome here. It consists of three small trees, braches actually, and collected waste materials from building sites. This all settled and grew to become a site specific artwork. City and woods, culture and nature, abstract and realist, it all comes together in the gallery. After sunset the installation enlightens like a beating heart. Inhabitants stop to give it a peek and visitors can rest inside.

This tree house lives. It is fragile and sturdy at the same time – fed by fantasy, grown like an organism, and built from solid materials and robust shapes. Open sections leave space for personal dreaming, new tales and interactive playfulness. Tessa Hendriks has built a hiding place that anyone can discover.

During the exhibition Tessa Hendriks organizes a varied and interactive public program: kids workshops, storytellers, live music and performances. Keep an eye on the website, www.bookstoreproject.nl.