Between the lines
Installation of 21 illuminated niches containing short phrases, Lelystad (NL) 2008
The Government Building Agency invited De Vet to create a work for a new Public Prosecution Service building in Lelystad. The Dutch Public Prosecution Service (Openbaar Ministerie) represents the interests of society and is traditionally the highest guardian of public order in the country. It investigates crimes, prosecutes offenders, and ensures that sentences are carried out.
De Vet made a wall of 21 illuminated niches containing short phrases. It’s located in the room where lawyers and their clients wait to go before the judge. Where the language of the legal code leaves as little room as possible for interpretation; the phrases in Between the lines do the opposite. Without getting too abstract, they refer to social processes and movements in our society as well as in the media. They read almost like news headlines, and refer to the authority of the media in influencing our collective morality and ethics.
The wall shows sentences like:
De mantra van de krantekop / The mantra of the headlines
De illusie van waarheid / The illusion of truth
De suggestie van macht / The suggestion in power
De vluchtigheid van de massa / The volatility of mass
Het narcisme van de meerderheid / The narcism of the majority
De snelheid van mening / The speed of opinion
De echo van stilte / The echo of silence
De irrationaliteit van de actualiteit / The irrationality of actuality
Het niemand van iedereen / The nobody of everybody
De conditie van vrijheid / The condition of freedom
