Your Own Sun was installed within the monumental Justus van Effen Complex, the first residential housing complex in the Netherlands to offer central heating. Today, the buildings’ heat barely functions, with residents protesting its high prices for such little warmth. Your Own Sun diverted the production budget of A Tale of A Tub towards solving this infrastructural issue–providing temporary heating system in the form of an artwork. Presented as a completely enclosed structure on the ground floor, the heat within it rises to the 1st floor, where viewers may bask in the warmth. Using only materials sourced from recently demolished buildings nearby, Your Own Sun embodies the historic and present-day ambitions and frictions of urban development.

The installation was devised in close consort with Woonstad, the social housing organization that owns the Justus van Effencomplex. In speaking with the architect who facilitate the renovation of the building in 2012, the PR manager of Woonstad who was tasked with recruiting the “right kind” of resident to move into the building, and the residents who have been fighting for better municipal representation for Spangen.

Curated by Isabelle Sully.

Your Own Sun
2024
Heating system, comprised of recycled building materials, retrofitted in to the exhibition space.