A monumental entrance paralleled on both sides by amorphous windows leads up a cumbersome stairwell too wide and too low for regular strides. At its apex: rehearsals in operatic tone, distant arrhythmic strumming of acoustic instruments, chatter and giggles from passersby. Back down and turn right through a slim passage between the stairs and vague windows facing the roadside to arrive at a threshold. Parts of linoleum are pasted together pressed against a black marble ground, with matching built-in benches dwarfed by verso of the same lofty staircase which metabolized my pace only moments ago. On its surface, something can be made out. The light coming from nearby windows casts a narrow drop shadow—stroking dozens of large letters all compounded into a swirling shape. Eyes follow the turbulent movements of letters which read:
Deep below
There is a foe
One I cannot name
In stony place
Its weight so great
Attempts would be in vain
Deep below
They’re digging holes
To try and set aflame
A hollow ground
And yet no sound
Of that I cannot name
This work by Felix Rapp is freely accessible during the opening hours of arts campus deSingel.
'A Hollow Ground' is part of the exhibition 'Thank you, come again' at the Royal Academy (Mutsaardstraat 31) and the In Situ atelier (Dambruggestraat 342), on show between June 27 and June 30.
Felix exhibits in deSingel on the request of the Parnassus research project.