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Our society is geared towards efficiency. Everything is streamlined, from the geometry of our built environment to the automation of labour processes. For Sophie Schreurs (1995), however, this emphasis on utility is primarily alienating. With her work, she seeks to push back against the system that produces this sense of estrangement. By immersing people in her installations, she aims to activate their sensory experience and emotional ‘being’. According to Schreurs, this is a way of making people aware of the status quo and encouraging alternative modes of thinking. She draws inspiration from Herbert Marcuse’s book One-Dimensional Man (1964), in which the philosopher describes how human desires, needs and sensory experiences are absorbed and restrained by capitalism, while also outlining ways of breaking free from this condition.
In this vein, Schreurs engages with themes of labour and self-sacrifice. With Innen Raum (2025), she proposes an alternative, presenting new possibilities for stepping outside familiar frameworks. Visitors are invited to enter the work in pairs and take a seat within a soft, organically shaped space that evokes associations with the safety of the womb. Inside are several primitive communication tools that allow participants to connect with one another in a mildly absurd manner. In this way, Schreurs raises questions about how we use our senses. Could you, for example, listen with your eyes, or speak with your nose? She challenges the public to think differently and to move closer – to themselves, and to others.
Written by: Esther Darley