Anarchist ballet

Anarchistic Ballet

2019

Anarchistic Ballet was developed during a residency at the Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht, where I spent a year experimenting with spatial behavior, movement, and public space.

For this installation, I created replicas of street bollards found throughout the city of Maastricht using different materials. Mounted on wheels and robotic vacuum cleaners, the bollards moved autonomously through the space. In their usual urban context, these objects are used to direct movement and regulate how public space is navigated by cars and pedestrians. Within the installation, these fixed rules continuously shifted, as the moving bollards constantly redefined the space around them.

The animated objects were placed within a staged environment in my studio at the Jan van Eyck Academie. Their unpredictable movement created interactions between the objects and visitors, forcing viewers to adjust their own position and behavior in response. Through this constant negotiation of space, the installation explored how simple architectural elements can influence movement, behavior, and social interaction.

The installation functions as a stage set that is activated through the presence and movement of its visitors.