Residue

Residue 

By Elena Khurtova and Anika Schwarzlose

‘Residue’ is an exploration into armed conflict, military-industrial production, and the enduring consequences for humans and all other lifeforms. A spatial installation intertwines images, objects, and soil to tell the story of the Hembrug weapons factory and the Hembrugterrein, Zaandam. Operating from 1904 to 2003, the factory played a pivotal role in munitions production in the Netherlands, fuelling recent international conflicts as well as suppressing anti-colonial independence movements in Indonesia. As the area undergoes redevelopment, the residue of violence persists beneath the ground. The soil itself becomes a tangible repository, bearing traces of weapon and ammunition manufacturing. The enduring presence of these materials necessitates soil remediation – a meticulous process involving the washing and rejuvenation of the earth. Intended to cleanse the area, the action represents the concealment of an uncomfortable past. The project manifests itself as an installation that evolves through a series of performative activations of textile works. ‘Residue’ brings together three archives: the Hembrugterrein soil, a selection of historical objects and imagery depicting factory operations, and video footage from the Dutch Film and Television Archive. Utilising 'soil chromatography', the artists craft transformative images on large-scale textiles, using the contaminated soil samples as agents. These chemically interact with archival images, creating a powerful collision of the past and present. The photochemical development process was performed in front of audiences on several occasions. Next to such performative activations and the opening events, numerous talks to groups of art academy and university students were given by the artists, several symposia invited the artist to present ‘Residue’ during talks and two field walks. Residue was extensively covered in Ecoes and in Metropolis M with individual articles.