In CIJFERSHOP (‘NUMBER SHOP’), the various unique values of numbers are presented through audio fragments, texts and wooden shapes. Each number has its own character. CIJFERSHOP started in Zwaanshals, a street in Rotterdam, where I converted an exhibition space into a number shop that attracted local residents who would not normally visit an art gallery. The numbers, part of the ‘shop’ system, could be bought as objects. In a publication that came out in 2015, for which Wouter Engelbart wrote the texts, the numbers speak about their experiences. They explain their political engagement, criticise how society uses them and express the wish to be approached in a more personal way. Since then, CIJFERSHOP has been shown at VHDG in Leeuwarden, among other places. In addition to the publication, wooden figures, a script and audio clips have been developed. In the audio work, a real estate agent, an architect and a financial advisor talk about the role of numbers in their lives and work. A person with obsessive-compulsive disorder related to the number 3 also speaks.
CIJFERSHOP
2004-2020
