Le Rouge et le Noir
Bob Verheijden
In the psychological novel Le Rouge et le Noir by Stendahl (1830), a young man attempts to rise socially from a modest upbringing through a combination of talent and hard work. The central role is for Julien Sorel, an ambitious son of a carpenter from a fictional village in Franche – Comté. The novel is a critical satire about the social order in France in the timeframe of the bourbon restoration.“
Within the novel Le Rouge et le Noir, the colours Red and Black stand for the clerical and the secular and, specifically, the tension between both, intertwined with a narrative thread of the black and red of the card game that still can be found in roulette.
In his artistic practice, Bob Verheijden often uses the colours Red and Black in a satirical way to portray the western society riddled with greed, overconsumption, and boredom.
He has an ambivalent relationship with black and Red, repellent and attracted simultaneously by its combination.
The things Verheijden makes are part of the continuous performance we act in. In the belief that all things have consciousness and are actors in this ongoing performance, Verheijden gives names to his things, mostly furniture. Over the years, it has become a growing family of objects and things with names such as Heideröschen Wo gehst du hin, Chanter, Stoel 1, Capiton, Royal Stewart, etcetera.
In 171project.space the spectator will find parts of the present furniture (things) named the Phnx Chair, designed during his stay at Coventry, and the M-stool contributed to Marianne.
