Wooden Dimensions Project

The Wooden Dimensions Project derives from Mirrors on the Wall. The main difference is that Wooden Dimensions is three dimensional whereas Mirrors on the wall consists of two dimensional watercolors. Symbols or symbolic concept are veiled by wooden doors who, at the same time, form an essential part of the work.

The spectator is invited to open the doors by him/herself, so that the work can be viewed in his total form. In this way, the viewer is no longer a bystander who simply undergoes, or sees the artwork, he/she plays an active part in the creation process by the way a door is opened, closed or left ajar.
In short, the Wooden Dimensions project demands a certain engagement from the spectator, it demands the willingness of the viewer to discover the different faces of one work, the willingness to see every changed shadow or reflection of light (by changing the door positions) as another version of the same artwork. The result is that for a moment the viewer becomes a participating creator who can decide for him/herself how the artwork should be presented, which reflects in fact the mood or personality of that person.

In China (a long time ago) an artwork was kept in a safe place and it was only showed on special occasions. It is said that because the artwork was only viewed, it kept it's capacity to trigger a refreshing experience. In this way it was avoided that the magic disappeared. This idea appealed very much to me and it was all the more a reason to rehabilitate this custom as a part of the Wooden Dimensions project by the integration of doors.
I also want to eliminate the well known taboo that art can't be touched. Especially for three dimensional art, it's an important part of the experience to feel an artwork.

It is very interesting and revealing how people react to the Wooden Dimensions at an exhibition.
Some people simply don't dare to touch the work. During the reception evening of the first exhibition of this project in 1997 (Zuiderpershuis, Antwerp), I was forced to tell almost everyone that they should feel free to open the doors. I even had open them by myself several times before some attendants hesitantly tried it themselves. Later on in the evening, no one had any problems with it. However, during the exhibition itself the following days, I was forced to place little messages beside the works which stated that they were allowed to tough the work, that touching it was part of the artwork, because again, nobody dared to raise a finger. This proves how often we are used to see art as something you just "watch" or "undergo" as a bystander. Although there is nothing wrong in that, I like people to be more active in their approach to art.

I have been toying with the idea of creating the possibility of interaction with the artworks at this website, which is perfectly possible with Quicktime VR or Flash, but I decided against it because, firstly, it would take an awful lot of time to do that, and secondly, it only remains a simulation with a two-dimensional medium.

Rudolf Boogerman, 20 November 1999

Gateways in wood, doors to a world of engagement wherein Rudolf winks with his eye, but at the same time stabs with a dagger. His work is a witness to the natural instincts in every human being, the longing to hunt, to hunt down, to shoot like the photographer and the "star", like the footballer in the goal, like the rockets that can contain satellites but weapons of destruction as well. The hunter in Little Red saves our heroine, the hunter in Rudolf's work shoots for pleasure at anything that moves. Humanizing this hunter's instinct with a shooting stand, humanizing our longing to kill another living creature...is that a contribution towards art?

By Willy Coomans, July 2003
(about the Wooden Dimensions project)