A site-specific installation How Now, House? by local artist and filmmaker Tess Martin will be presented at Galerie Lecq in Rotterdam, an art gallery in a historical bridge-watching kiosk. The installation will be viewable from the street day and night, for three weeks, June 7-29.
How Now, House? also exists as a stand-alone 13 min short film, and this installation version will be created specifically for the unique geometry of the venue, a small brick kiosk with a semicircle of glass windows on a busy bridge. How Now, House? explores time, memory, and the impermanence of home through a deeply personal lens. Inspired by Martin’s experience of leaving a house in Rotterdam she had lived in for a decade—her longest period of residence anywhere—the film reflects on the urgent housing crisis and our collective sense of precarity. Using time-lapse photography, photo replacement and rotoscope, repetitive actions, and the symbolic replacement of playing cards, How Now, House? evokes multiple time periods at once, questioning whether a space can ever truly belong to one person or moment. The playing cards serve as a stand-in for time—sequential but devoid of intrinsic meaning—shuffling through past and present as if in a never-ending game.
“I wanted to explore how our time in a shared space connects us to the past and to those who came before us,” said Tess Martin. “Galerie Lecq is the perfect place to present the installation because the uniqueness and character of the building immediately makes us think of previous time periods, when it was used by the bridge watcher who would raise the bridge for tall boats.”
As part of the film's creation, Martin extensively researched her home's history and its past inhabitants, applying techniques she honed as an amateur genealogist. Records in the Rotterdam City Archive led her to previous owners and inhabitants whose stories she was able to incorporate. Her installation at Lecq will comprise two displays of the video - a projection more clearly visible at night, and a large monitor more clearly seen during the day. A card game will also be viewable through the windows, on a small table. One card will change each day, a very slow-motion version of the card game seen in the film, only perceptible to the most perceptive or frequent visitors. Visitors who approach will also be able to hear the multi-language voiceover, which blends real historical documentation and philosophical reflections on time, inviting viewers to consider the imprints we leave on spaces and the fleeting nature of permanence.
The short film of How Now, House? has just started its festival run. A public screening in the Netherlands is still in the future, making this installation in Rotterdam a unique opportunity to see the piece. Additionally, Martin is embarking on a podcast tour to discuss the themes of How Now, House? within the larger context of the global housing crisis, the instability of creative work as an immigrant, and how displacement shapes identity. Through in-depth conversations, she will examine the intersection of personal experience and systemic issues, bringing visibility to the challenges faced by artists and renters worldwide.
Creation of this work was supported by the Dutch Film Fund, the Center for Visual Art, Het Wilde Weten and FilmDak in Rotterdam.
Due to the nature of the space, the public will be able to see How Now, House? at Galerie Lecq for 24 hours a day from June 7 to June 29. no admission or opening times necessary. The address is Westzeedijk 379, Rotterdam, Netherlands 3024 EB.
The opening reception will be on Saturday, June 7th from 16:00 until 19:00 in front of the venue.
For more information on How Now, House?, visit Tess Martin’s website
https://www.tessmartinart.com.
To learn more about Galerie Lecq, visit
https://www.rotterdam.info/en/visit/finder-locations/galerie-lecq
About Tess Martin
Tess Martin is a filmmaker/visual artist based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. Her work is informed by hand-made animation techniques and their potential to explore our vulnerability in relation to nature, the onslaught of time and the precariousness of memory. She brings her perspective as someone who was raised between cultures to explore themes of belonging, identity and connection. Tess’ work has been exhibited at international galleries and festivals such as TOKAS Hongo (JP), International Film Festival Rotterdam (NL), Ann Arbor Film Festival (USA), and more. She was selected as an artist-in-residence at, among others, the Hawthornden Writer's Retreat (Scotland, 2022), the Camargo Foundation (France, 2019), and the Bogliasco Foundation (Italy, 2017) and was a participant in Berlinale Talents 2024. Recent funders include the Dutch Film Fund, the Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie, the Mondriaanfonds, the City of Rotterdam and the Center for Visual Art Rotterdam.