Hide or Seek engages with the notion of simplification. Although presented here in a visual format through digital manipulation of photographs, any form of simplification always works to produce two effects; while on the one hand, the simplification of complexity may provide a larger audience with a general idea of the functioning of said complexity, it is paramount to acknowledge that, on the other hand, any form of simplification proactively conceals detail and renders nuance largely invisible.
Anything that is always visible gradually becomes mundane, banal and, eventually, invisible. The critical representation of and visual engagement with the omnipresent notion of simplification actively works to slow and, ideally, subvert this process.
Works from Hide or Seek featured in the publication-as-exhibition 1/1 - This Is Not a Copy, This Is an Exhibition, curated by Rio Drop. More info and a sneak peek into the publication can be found here.
In Hide or Seek, I embark on my first visual reflection on the functioning of the practice of simplification, highlighting its ability to both reveal and to conceal, anonymise and obfuscate.