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A sheet of paper covered in golden flecks opens up like a treasure chest. An insect rests on a piece of bark, or is it a chunk of plastic? Aan de rand van het bos, onder de rozenstruik (2025) by Linus Bonduelle (1996) is a series of miniature sculptures. They are tiny scenes filled with suspense: something just happened, or is about to happen. But what exactly?
The inspiration for these sculptures came from a short story by writer Toon Tellegen about a bumblebee who owns a little shop filled with items hardly anyone would ever need. When grasshopper receives an invititation to leopard’s proper party, he starts practicing his most distinguished smile in front of the mirror. In order to make a truly elegant entrance, however, he is still missing something. Fortunately, the bumblebee sometimes has exactly what you’re looking for.
Instead of literally referring to the story, Bonduelle was mainly inspired by its essence, by a speck of dust brushed of a shoulder with seemingly causal ease. This small, negligible gesture could easily be ignored. And yet it has a major impact on the story.
Similar to how the French writer Georges Perec proposed to question your teaspoons in one of his essays, Bonduelle believes that the mundane hides immeasurable value. He collects inconspicuous materials and discarded objects: text fragments, hubcaps, or dead flies that fell behind a radiator. The artworks he creates invite us to look at our immediate surroundings from a fresh perspective.
Text: Sarah van Binsbergen
Translated from Dutch by Marie Louise Schoondergang (The Art of Translation)