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Let’s assume, for the sake of argument, that heaven exists, and that we believe the near-death experiences of people who were clinically dead. Yes, the Light. Testimonies speak of an all-blinding light. So clear and so white that it defies description. R. Beekman’s ‘Die Himmel’ is not particularly about the hereafter, but the use of light automatically calls to mind that strange light at the end of the equally strange tunnel. ‘Die Himmel’ makes you blink. You don’t know what you are looking at and after a while visual perception is alienated. You get ‘shimmy’ before your eyes, your brain can no longer translate the flashing light into logical data. You start to see things that perhaps are not there. Is that a fish, or are those plants? Try looking into the sun for a couple of seconds. The effect is similar. Referring to Abtala Jurain’s 18th century text, R. Beekman plays in an attractive philosophical way with the question as to how people experience natural phenomena like the sun, the moon and the stars. A possible understanding of these phenomena is, in all respects, blinding.
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Erik Quint
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Thanks to Artist-In-Residency Program Harvestworks Inc./Studio Pass, Mondriaan Stichting
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