Corneroh

All of Willem Speekenbrink’s works are about unexpected combinations that have something going on. This way, the obvious becomes problematised, and forms a different worldview. He believes that making new connections is an essential function of art. The ambiguity of the image, bringing it to life, its conception, destruction, and death, are also constants in his work that can be found in this installation.
First, a beam of light grabs the attention. An object placed at eye level glows warmly in the dimly lit exhibition space. This first impression of the installation centers the deed, the conception, that what is brought to life; it is the artist who commits the deed and animates the artwork. Near the sculpture’s edge is a text written in pencil and in capital letters, ‘EXTINGUISHES THE LIGHT’ and ‘PRIAPUS’ can be read.
The back of the eye is almost completely open and exposes the rough material on the inside making up the sculpture. The text and the hollow eye refer to Priapus, the god of fertility, who pierces the eye with his enormous member and, according to some sources, his ejaculation.
Both his ability to fend off evil and to grant fertility are evoked by this hollow eye.  Whatever ill fortune is being or will be averted is a question the viewer can ask themselves. The sculpture is also a sheath, through which life finds a way out. But the apparition is also a seed pod, an ovary for creation. A smooth womb, a rocky casing.
A sperm cell, a grain of pollen, the smallest beginning for the grandest result. Every detail is part of the deed that makes humanity feel immortal in that one moment. It primes the mind for creation.