Jeroen Jongeleen (1967) creates works about our search for freedom and our relationship with the space around us. For this video work, he ran in circles for days, repeatedly jumping over a ditch reminiscent of a horizon.
Public space in the Netherlands is perfectly designed by planners and landscape architects, 'but we humans tend to make elephant paths. Elephant paths are spontaneous paths in the grass, formed when many people walk there, outside the planned pedestrian routes.’
Jongeleen sees the elephant path as the ultimate artwork in public space. In this video, he combines his love of these trails with his passion for running. 'I ran laps like a dressage horse, stretching a string and keeping it very tight. By running this circle very consistently, a trail developed over time.'
This video takes place in the rigidly framed farmlands just outside of Rotterdam. 'The artificial elements such as crops and plow lines are at odds with the natural movements of the wind and clouds.'
With this work, he wants to show not only the great physical effort but also the sense of play and joy of crossing all those layers in the landscape. 'I want to encourage people to look at their movements differently.'
Jeroen Jongeleen grew up in the Netherlands and Suriname, and after wandering through the graffiti world and his military service, he ended up at art school. His work explores what place art takes in public space as urbanization continues to expand. Jongeleen’s work was previously on display at Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and the Kröller-Müller Museum.