Germaine Kruip's 'Geometry of the Scattering' exhibition transformed the Oude Kerk with minimalist interventions exploring light, darkness, and the building's architecture. Featuring new and adapted works, it invited viewers to reconsider perception through simple geometric forms.
From November 26, 2015, to March 27, 2016, the Oude Kerk presented 'Geometry of the Scattering,' an exhibition by Dutch artist Germaine Kruip. In collaboration with curator Krist Gruijthuijsen, the exhibition featured a selection of works previously unseen in the Netherlands, alongside new pieces inspired by the monumental Oude Kerk. Kruip's practice often involves minimalist interventions that create theatrical environments by subtly altering spaces. For this exhibition, she explored the original lighting of the church and the relationship between light and darkness with its architecture. The work 'Oude Kerk Untitled' involved the removal of all artificial light sources, allowing the architecture to be fully exposed to the natural cycle of daylight, which shifted hourly, transforming the church's appearance from sunlit to 'ghostly dark' throughout the short winter days.
The exhibition delved into the historical and cultural significance of simple geometric forms like circles and squares. Kruip used these forms and subtle interventions to expose phenomena such as the impact of traditions and rituals, resulting in disorienting abstractions of light and space. These abstractions carried a dual meaning: they connected with the contemplative nature of the Oude Kerk and actively influenced the viewer's perception. The performance 'A Square, spoken,' centered on the square as a symbol, suggesting that within its history, we can recognize the passage of time and the mutability of our perceptions. The exhibited work 'Column Untitled' (2011), composed of hundreds of white marble elements in a seemingly endless repetition, formed an 18-meter-high column in the Saint Joris Chapel, creating a spatial effect of infinity between the vault and the floor slabs.