Who wants a marble snack? They are on sale in this (fake) airport on the Lauriergracht

Casper Braat transformed the Torch Gallery into a departure hall overflowing with marble products. From a cart to a skateboard and a banana.

Visual artist Casper Braat (31) worked hard for his exhibition departures at the Torch Gallery. In three weeks, he transformed the white space of the Lauriergracht into a departure hall – including a check-in counter, snack vending machine, signage copied from Schiphol, an abstract detection gate and a waiting area. Before the opening, he had a thousand boarding passes printed – all with their own “seat number”, all in economy class – which are checked on entry by stewardesses in costume KLM blue. “Boarding is possible from 5 p.m. at gate D12. In the meantime, enjoy our range of snacks while waiting in the departures hall. Thank you for traveling with Torch Airlines.

Braat graduated from the Rietveld Academy in 2015; since then, he has built a body of work that is characterized by a deep fascination for the consumer society. Two years ago he had his first solo exhibition (sold out) at Torch, For all timefor which he sculpted household appliances such as toasters, little thieves, kettles and irons in Italian Carrara marble, literally placing them on a pedestal and thus transforming them into timeless marble sculptures.

Nose drops, toothbrush

Carrara marble is also the base material departures. The huge vending machine not only holds Marble Twix, Toblerones, Oreo cookies, stroopwafels, sandwiches and bottles of Coca-Cola, but also aspirin, tampons, deodorant, nose drops, toothbrushes and poppers. The edition is 3, the prices of consumer goods, partly handmade, partly made with a computer-controlled robot arm, fluctuate between 250 and 450 euros (the pinned amount is directly credited to the account of the artist). Those who have less to spend, but still want to use the machine, can also purchase a numbered and signed tin of peanuts for 2.50 euros.

In the first room there are many more marble products – from a Rimowa case and a skateboard to a banana and a saxophone case. The security camera on the ceiling is also marble. In the (plastic) bins on the dynamometer next to the detection door are, among other things, two Stan Smith shoes (inspired by Braat’s own shoes), a Loewe Puzzle Bag, heels, a neck pillow, headphones, headphones, a game boy and a Rolex – all marble, all Edition 1.

Not day, not night

In preparation for his exhibition, Braat did not only do material research. He too had wanted to stay a week at Schiphol, but the Maréchaussée had already spotted him the first night and he was sent away. He then traveled from airport to airport for ten days without checking. And he experienced the sluggishness and complete convertibility of passenger terminals; “spaces of nothingness” where day and night do not exist, where a similar aesthetic must ensure a safe and efficient experience for the traveler, and where a feeling of luxury is created all the same at the lowest cost.

His exhibition is not only about the aesthetics of meticulously counterfeit products, but more importantly about this tension between a utopian desire for safety and convenience and the dystopian reality of control and depersonalization, and about the hope for something better. . In his installation, the visitor is a passenger unaware of the adventure that awaits him, who can afford daily comfort sculpted in marble. But when you find yourself in the waiting area through the detection door, nothing has really changed.

Lonely young man

A lonely young man waits behind the sensor barrier, on the ground, with his Rimowa case next to him, and of course with his iPhone ready. It is Braat’s largest and most detailed marble statue, completely in one piece, and it weighs over 1,000 pounds.

In the same room, a 12-hour video is streamed on the big screen, Waiting in limbo, consisting of a beautifully stylized single shot of a young man waiting on an airport bench. On and under the bench are a bottle of water, a suitcase, a banana – not marble, but real ones.

The young man hangs up and takes a few steps, yawns and plays with his Zippo lighter in boredom. He goes nowhere and expects nothing. The visitor to the gallery experiences exactly the same boredom from the same bench. We hope for something better, but are stuck in the waiting room.

Departures from Casper Braat: until February 15 (Thursday to Saturday 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.) at the Torch Gallery, Lauriergracht 94. The snack vending machine can also be seen at Art Rotterdam from February 9 to 12.