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(Archive) Jaknikker

This project was part of DDW 2022

The Jaknikker project emphasises the contrast between cheap plastic products in one place and the expensive ecological damage of oil in the other.

Jaknikker

The project of Isabela Verhagen is centred around a pumpjack. In this economy, we heavily depend on oil and the ‘cheap’ products it can provide. However, the extraction of oil and the processing of oil into plastic cause considerable ecological problems. Many products are produced in countries where labour is cheaper, this is called displacement. Displacement enables the concealment of the ecological damage that comes along with the production process. The Jaknikker symbolizes the fragile balance between economic progress and ecological damage. Made out of plastic wrappings, the Jaknikker subsumes the visitor in the movement and shows, in a threatening and chaotic strangulation of the fabric, how the extraction of oil for the production of plastic causes ecological damage.