____ Mirthe Berentsen (1984, Netherlands) and Martín La Roche (1988, Chile) found each other in their search for words. In 2018, they both took part in the artist-in-residence programme of the Dutch organisation Beautiful Distress in the psychiatric ward of Kings County Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, where they were confronted with the boundaries of language. Martín and Mirthe organised artistic workshops for people with different diagnoses and mental health problems during their stay at the hospital. The clients were encouraged to (re)write their narratives and in doing so connect to their own voices and personal stories in a different way.
In Koblenz, the two artists will present their collection of artworks, objects and tangible memories and visitors will be allowed to pick them up, stroke, touch and play with them in a specially designed sandbox in an interactive workshop on 6 April.
In the sandbox, the artists’ personal memories and subjective associations become part of a collective experience. This translation into the collective realm takes place in a sandbox where visitors can sit down and play with the artworks in the exhibition. This installation is a free interpretation of Jungian sandplay therapy, which was developed by the psychoanalyst Dora Kalff in the 1950s. In this therapy, objects are freely placed in a sandbox to create new narratives and overcome trauma, especially when it seems impossible to put feelings into words.