Anika Schwarzlose (Berlin, Germany, 1982) and Elena Khurtova (Samara, Russia, 1982) live and work in Amsterdam.
Both came to the Netherlands to study at the Rietveld Academie.
Coming from different fields of art and research, such as photography, performance and installation, their practices intertwine for the collaborative project Residue. Schwarzlose's work focuses on the function of archives and the impact of recontextualisation and reproduction techniques of images on the construction of hegemonic narratives. Khurtova’s work investigates notions of care and control, reflecting on the interplay of fragility and resilience of human and environmental conditions.
Website Anika
Website Elena
Residue
Residue engages with the past and present of the Hembrug terrain in Zaandam. It has been home to the Netherlands’ biggest weapons factory between 1904 and 2003, which played an important role in many international conflicts, including the suppression of the independence struggles in Indonesia during the colonial wars. Currently, the area is in redevelopment in order to revive it for civilian use, but the violence that used to be exported from here has not disappeared; the soils beneath the former factory contain contaminating remnants of the weapons manufacturing. An extensive process of soil remediation tries to address this contamination. An act that represents attempts of cleansing, but can just as well be read as the covering up of an uncomfortable past.
Schwarzlose and Khurtova see the soil of the Hembrug terrain as a physical archive that tells its own story. In parallel, they investigated the photographic archive of the Hembrug factory and selected images which depict working conditions, advertisements, and technical documentation. A series of large textiles brings these two archives in contact through a photochemical process, called soil chromatography. The polluted soils reveal and transform archival images, both archives interact and collide with each other.
During 3 exhibitions, the project Residue unfolds step by step, allowing visitors to physically enter the Hembrug terrain.
Where to see
The Amsterdam Museum is presenting a series of the soil chromatographic textile works. In a format of performative activations Schwarzlose and Khurtova share the photographic process of revealing the archival imagery on newly created works that join the exhibition.
At PAKT, Zeeburgerpad there is a large-scale installation displayed, comprising 30 textile works, documents from the Zaans Museum collection, and the factory’s production history, presented in a timeline, opening up information about the Hembrug factory’s participation in geopolitical conflicts.
A third chapter is to be exhibited this February at Looiersgracht 60, in the scope of the Sonic Acts Biennial. An installation unfolds that unites three archives: the Hembrug soil, archival imagery of the factory's operations, and video footage that depicts the impact of the Hembrug weapons with a focus on the scorched earth that is left behind by armed conflict. A 4 channel video highlights the factory's history, exploring the relationship between armed conflict, military production, and their enduring impact on humanity and ecological environments. Unlike typical representations of weapons as aesthetic or neutral objects, Residue contextualizes them within their intended use and tangible materiality. Our project aims to give shape to invisible destruction of environments through contamination.