Marijn Ottenhof

The starting point in my work is a fascination for systems, rules and logic – how we relate to that natural necessity for some kind of structure and what happens when it falls through. In my imagination, the world we live in, with fake news, the presence of technology in our social interactions, the threat of terrorism and information overload, creates an entire society suffering from post-traumatic stress. The inability to walk on solid ground manifests itself in symptoms such as hypervigilance, repetitive patterns, flashbacks, hearing voices, fragmentation and emotional dissociation, which is why I use these as strategies in my work.

Although I work in a variety of media, the core of the work is always performative, be it in the live presence of actors who sometimes interact with the audience, performance for camera, or elements of the performative such as stage sets, scripts, rehearsals, improvisation and soundtracks.