16 Decimal Pedestals 2022

Single edition, 300 x 62 x 530 cm, Foam, gourd, internet cables

Maikel Deekman

The work 16 Decimal Pedestals consists of 16 sharply cut foam blocks, topped with gourds filled with colored scented elixirs, resting on circles of coiled internet cables. This work is the result of a personally motivated research in which Maikel Deekman dived into the culture of the Maroons and makes connections – in colour, material, technique and contemporary art – with other perspectives that appeal to him: from Mondrian to African philosophy. The 16 foam blocks refer to 150 years of the abolition of slavery in 2023. Each block represents 10 years. The extra 16^th block represents the 10 years of plantation labour that enslaved people still had to do after the official abolition of slavery in 1863.

Digital Patchwork Framed Mamjo Installation (DPFMI) is an installation in which Maikel Deekman combines different elements: a wall with a mosaic of fabric patterns on a wooden frame, flanked by large format color prints that refer to spreadsheets.

This work is the result of a personally motivated research in which Deekman dived into the culture of the Maroons and made connections – in color and rhythm – with other angles that appeal to him: from de Stijl to African philosophy.