Surface is content 816.999,99

surface is content

In his Surface is Content series, Hollenbeq reduces art to the essentials - or empties it completely. White canvases, printed with oversized price tags, appear simple, almost banal at first glance. Yet this radical reduction contains a sharp commentary on modern consumer culture and our perception of value and meaning. The works pose the question: what remains when the surface becomes the content?

Title of the work:

Surface is content 02

Format:

150 x 100 cm

Artists:

Silas Hollenbeq

INITIALIMPULS | Year:

2022

BACKGROUND

Value and meaning in superficiality

The price, in bold print and impossible to overlook, is not just a number. It becomes a metaphor for a world in which what is visible is often the only thing that counts. The white canvas, once a symbol of artistic freedom, is no longer the bearer of an idea, but a pure projection surface for economic and social dynamics.

With Surface is Content, Hollenbeq sheds light on a society that is increasingly determined by material and superficial values. The price tags not only stand for the absurdity of status symbols, but also for the way in which we construct meaning. A high price becomes a guarantee of value - regardless of what is actually behind it.

Hollenbeq shows us how closely value, prestige and surface are linked. The number on the canvas gives the work a meaning that is not created by its content, but by the perception of exclusivity and unattainability. Hollenbeq makes it clear how easily our gaze lingers on the surface, while the emptiness beneath remains invisible. The works automatically force the viewer into the role of the buyer: Is this worth the price? Would I pay that much for it? However, Hollenbeq not only questions the art market, but also our own relationship to ownership and status. The price becomes a challenge - and at the same time a temptation.

the viewer as part of the system

Hollenbeq's series Surface is Content is more than a critique of the art market. It is a precise observation of the superficiality of our time. The works reveal how consumerism, status and materialistic values characterize not only the art world, but our entire society. The price on the canvas is not a number - it is a commentary. And the canvas itself becomes a reflection on the absurdity with which we create and perceive values.

With this work, Hollenbeq forces us to think about the relationship between surface and meaning. Surface is Content is no mere provocation, but an invitation to critically confront the mechanisms behind status, value and consumption - and to question our own role in this game.

LIST OF WORKS