In the Dim Light of a Single Hanging Lamp

‘The roomy back verandah, with the table always set, stretched away in the dim light of a single hanging lamp.’ – Louis Couperus, The Hidden Force, 1900

In the Dim Light of a Single Hanging Lamp is an exercise in mobilizing and working with photographic archival materials that represent the colonial house, either as subject or backdrop. As a voyeur we move through the different spaces of the colonial house. Starting in the garden, from where we enter the liminal space of the veranda or front gallery, we move to the living room, bedrooms and back gallery, and finally into the back yard where we find the annex, separated from the main house, with the kitchen, storage space, servant’s room and garage. The images are collected from different archives in The Netherlands and taken in and around Semarang (Java) in the first half of the twentieth century. They focus on different elements, parts and objects that give us a glimpse into how the Dutch defined and organized the various spaces in their colonial home, and what kinds of furniture they displayed to do so. Furthermore, this allows us to speculate about why they chose for certain architectural spaces and types of furniture and imagine how they used it.

The colonial strategies of dissecting and separating are adopted as counter strategies to understand and unfold the idea of the colonial house, its organization and use. Ariëlla Aïsha Azoulay aptly observes in her book Potential History, Unlearning Imperialism that ‘the right to dissect and study people’s worlds and render their fragments into pieces to be meticulously copied is taken for granted’. The camera shutter par excellence is an instrument of imperial technology that dissects and separates, she argues. ‘In a split second, the camera’s shutter draws three dividing lines: in time (between a before and an after), in space (between who/what is in front of the camera and who/what is behind it), and in the body politic (between those who possess and operate such devices and appropriate and accumulate their product and those whose countenance, resources, or labor are extracted).’ For colonial architecture we could argue the same, although in a slower pace: it divides between before and after, it does so through spatial interventions which define who has the power to own, live in or use certain spaces and who doesn’t, and it creates body political hierarchies between those who have the means to build, accumulate and articulate their product and those whose spaces, resources or labor are extracted.

When we are looking at archival materials, are we seeing the same things?

In the Dim Light of a Single Hanging Lamp stretches the shutter’s photographic moment by turning the photograph into a moving image, and redefining its frame, deliberately avoiding in first instance the actual subject of the photographs displayed: hands hide the people that are often central to the image and focus on the objects around them. Gradually, however, the subject is exposed: we see people doing their daily activities, posing, and finally looking back at us.

CIRCULATE – PHOTOGRAPHY BEYOND FRAMES
Proposals for the Museum Collection

In the Dim Light of a Single Hanging Lamp was created in the context of the exhibition Circulate – Photography Beyond Frames at Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. The film was projected on a new version of the mosquito net installation Dissecting the Colonial House (2023), and accompanied with the works from Separated Within Reach (2020).

Every two years, Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam organizes a large group show centered on a discipline or urgent theme. The 2024 edition focuses on developments within the field of photography, a medium that is constantly evolving. This emphasis reflects the museum’s new course in photography: works that highlight the intersection of the visual arts and photography.

Photography has increasingly become a part of our lives; we produce and consume a constant flow of images. Also the status of photography as an art medium has shifted dramatically. The 21 artists included in Circulate use photography in unique and innovative ways, thinking beyond the frame. Their approach exceeds the technical realm; what matters is the meaning of the artwork. Carriers of the photographic image can take on myriad forms, varying from the classical photo paper to a stone or fabric, a digital form, a sculpture or a three-dimensional installation.  

For Circulate 21 artists were selected, all of whom use photography in unique and innovative ways, thinking beyond the frame. Their work also attests to the impact of the image in our daily lives. Many of the works in Circulate were created especially for the exhibition and will be on view for the first time. During the exhibition, the Stedelijk will announce which works will be acquired for the museum collection.