Heijplaat, Netherlands

"Ballads", an exposition by Sarkis Zabunyan in the Submarine Wharf (Boymans van Beuningen).

‘Gesamtkunstwerk’ in the Submarine Wharf
You enter the immense space of the Submarine Wharf via a small door. You can wander through the installation on foot or explore the installation on one of the bicycles covered in white down feathers. The bicycles are arranged in a large circle under a 16-meter lampshade in which a spotlight rises and falls to the rhythm of the artist’s breathing. The space is filled with the sound of a carillon with 43 bells, suspended from an architectural construction of 18 enormous tree trunks. The carillon plays the work ‘Litany for the Whale’ by avant-garde composer John Cage (1912-1992). The composition, based on the call of two whales, suggests allusions to the history of the wharf, which was once used for building submarines. The connection between the past and present is a recurring theme in Sarkis’ work.