The Living Room

depicts the interior of a typical Dutch house. Close-ups of different kinds of furniture, potted plants, souvenirs and other personal belongings are carefully depicted. The quiet, private atmosphere is breached when a large oak tree enters the room, rearranging the interior in a destructive manner. Being both realistic and absurd, the confrontation between the tree and the home raises questions about their meaning and symbolism, and their representational value for the outside world. The sober way the event is captured starkly contrasts with its absurd character, and this idiom characterizes Hietbrink's oeuvre. Hietbrink's audiovisual installations and photography fuse elements of architecture and the cinematic, drawing on the history of film, modernism and urban landscapes. His work frequently introduces external or foreign elements into everyday scenarios, challenging the perceptions of his audience and highlighting processes of interpretation.