Erik Hobijn, Delusions of self-immolation. Photo Morten Hartz Kaplers
A week ago i was in Eindhoven for an of the STRP festival that surpassed all my expectations. The curators and directors of the event had the brilliant (and timely) idea of dedicating the whole exhibition to the history of new media art in The Netherlands. I’ll come back with a report or two about the show as soon as i’ve collected all the pictures and texts i need. But i found that one of the pieces exhibited, Delusions of Self-Immolation, is so powerful and disturbing it deserved its own post.
STRP 2011 Expo hall. Photo: Boudewijn Bollmann
Delusions of Self-Immolation, aka ‘the suicide machine’, was a built by Erik Hobijn in the 1990s to set members of the public on fire. Literally.
The person would stand on a platform covered in a flame-resistant gel. A flame-thrower would then burn their body for less then half a second. The platform then turns on itself so that the extinguisher situated on the opposite side of the machine can extinguish the person immediately.
In an interview with Derek Holzer, Hobijn explained: There are three states on the machine which I call “rare”, “medium”, and “well done”. “Rare” means you survive without any wounds. “Medium” is more for, say, the SM session or for people who like pain to understand parts of life, or to have this experience of pain. The third possibility is death. It is possible to die in this machine; I just have to change the liquid, and I have to change the timing.
Some 30 people have tested it at the time, many of whom were women.
The machine was shown at STRP along with a video. The artist also made demonstrations. I doubt it would be possible to have it function nowadays. We’ve all caught the Health and Safety bug in Europe.
Obviously, there is something physical in the Self-Immolation experience but what goes on inside the mind of the people before, during and after the burning alive experience must be even more intense and fascinating.
Erik Hobijn, Delusions of self-immolation, demonstration. Photo © Jan Sprij 1993
Erik Hobijn, Delusions of self-immolation. Photo Morten Hartz Kaplers
Erik Hobijn, Delusions of self-immolation. Photo Morten Hartz Kaplers
Erik Hobijn, Delusions of self-immolation. Photo Morten Hartz Kaplers
Erik Hobijn, Delusions of self-immolation. Photo Morten Hartz Kaplers
If you speak dutch, i would recommend the book SKG: kunst, muziek & terreur 1978-1981 by Martijn Haas that reconstruct the ‘night of terrorism’ orchestrated by Hobijn in the Summer of 1980 in Amsterdam.