In the early 1990s Eric de Kuyper created a series of ‘peeping boxes’ titled Theatrum Opticum (1992), miniature video installations set in handmade boxes. They were the result of his exploration of new forms of artistic expression that broke away from traditional filmmaking. He merged video art with his interest in early cinematic optical devices and his childhood fascination for Benjamin Pollock’s 19th-century toy theatres. Compared to feature filmmaking, video was at the same time an accessible and affordable medium, unrestricted by format, scale, budget or production matters. In an era well before YouTube and vlogging, video allowed de Kuyper to be an independent director, set designer and cameraman all in one.
“When in the nineties, it became apparent to me that the kind of films I would like to make, were becoming difficult to produce, I decided to experiment in the art field, by making short video films shown in my‘peeping boxes’.” Eric de Kuyper
The series of ‘peeping boxes’titled Theatrum Opticum – Pink Ulysses II, Peeping Box I, Swimming Pool, Renaissance and Boite à Joujoux, was originally presented as part of de Kuyper’s solo exhibition in November 1993 at the Palace at the Meir, in the context of Antwerp European Cultural Capital (Antwerpen Culturele Hoofdstad van Europa). Currently all works from the series, besides La Boite a Jouxjoux, are in the collection of the Museum van Hedendaagse Kunst Antwerpen. In 2005 de Kuyper created a unique ‘peeping box’ex-situ installed on a sandy beach in Brighton as a part of ARCHETYPE festival.
“A special peeping box was installed on the beach of Brighton. It had two sets of holes: through one you could see... the beach as it was at that very moment. Crowded and full of action and relaxation. Actually what you saw through the hole, was what you could see also... without the box! But through the other holes, you could admire the same spot of beach,the sea and the old Pierbut at 4 a.m. We shot the beach, the sea and the old Pier during one hour by sunset. Children liked it a lot. One little girl however was very sad, because while she was looking through the box, her ice cream cone fell on the ground…” Eric de Kuyper
‘Peeping boxes’ with their unique scenography and atmosphere, each is a miniature universe on its own. Inside, the tiny screens display videos that allude to voyeurism and homoeroticism. De Kuyper collaged various types of moving images together in a playful way – from home videos, fragments of TV shows and pornographic movies, to his own earlier feature films. His attitude towards eroticism and the beauty of the male body is not without a sense of humour and admiration.
Each peeping box relies on its components to work as a whole: the video would not have an impact without its frame, the hand-crafted scenography would be merely an empty toy box without the video in it. Yet there is also a whimsical friction between them. These naïve, sentimental boxes juxtapose the surprise contents of the videos themselves: athletic bodies of swimming champions, kaleidoscopic compositions of figures cut out from porn magazines and placed on reproductions of 18th-century paintings. While the images are pornographic, they have been stripped of aggression and subjugation. The artist offers the audience voyeuristic pleasure in a cheeky and light-hearted way.
From 10th until 24th of October the four boxes will be exhibited at Cinematek – Pink Ulysses II, Peeping Box I, Swimming Pool and Renaissance – as part of the exhibition Theatrum Opticum Revived curated by Zuzanna Rachowska. The exhibition marks the first time in over 25 years that the four boxes are exhibited together. The boxes have been restored and the videos have been digitised especially for this show.
Eric de Kuyper, Peeping Box I, 1992, M HKA Collection.
Eric de Kuyper, Pink Ulysses II, 1992, M HKA Collection.
Eric de Kuyper, Renaissance, 1992, M HKA Collection.
Eric de Kuyper, Swimming pool, 1992, M HKA Collection.
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