For her solo exhibition at De Nederlandsche Bank, Sarah van Sonsbeeck was invited to visit the vault where the Dutch gold reserve is kept. Fascinated by the vault’s contents and the fact that the gold is stored so securely and out of sight, she took a mould of a standard gold bar as the starting point for a new series of works.
Van Sonsbeeck initially wanted to investigate the formal and conceptual qualities of gold, but her research took an unexpected turn after she visited the vault. Unlike the shape of a standard 400 oz gold bar, the shape of the shelves where these were stored was extremely specific to the building’s architecture. Van Sonsbeeck therefore decided to reproduce the shelves. Using the materials she found throughout the building, she made a direct reference to the special context in which these universally standardised objects were located. By translating the shape of a standard gold bar, Van Sonsbeeck invites us to redefine the value of this commodity from gold to art. Her research is a constant balancing act between intrinsic value and intellectual value. By associating the shape of an everyday object with a valuable material like gold, Van Sonsbeeck forces us to question our personal value system, which consists of both intrinsic and symbolic elements.
Translating the standard gold bar (I only take risks I understand) De Nederlandsche Bank, Amsterdam, 2016
