CombiNight, 2000

The "room of the night" brings one back to essential perception of the moment, opening a space inside the viewer and organising systematic emptiness. The complexity of Tuerlinckx's work is created by a total suspension of the perceivable world. The created image of the night becomes more real than reality. Her work does not force the world out, but tries to displace our perception of it. The viewer is invited to think about his or her position inside the work. The space places the presence of an individual on the verge of absence. The emptiness is, first and foremost, a space of receptivity, an open gap that art makes visible. "An exhibition", the artist reminds us, "is always an occasion to exercise part of an activity". This activity concerns human action. "When I say action", she explains, "I mean the totality of the constructive and destructive gestures of humanity as a whole. Empty spaces have the capacity of resurrecting a part of humanity; an exhibition is a way to recount it in visible form." At Manifesta 3 the artist presents CombiNight. "… a block of another place will be placed in Ljubljana's park on the door there will be ENTER HERE
in
THE ROOM OF THE NIGHT an island of night
or how to, from the day, see the night"