Written by Giuliano Bolivar

Here is an artist who, no matter how art-savvy you might or might not be, you will be able to understand and connect with. As we all have loved once and succeeded in love or maybe got lost in a relationship, we have hurt too. We know how immense a lovesick feeling can be; both physically and psycologically. Ramon Ottenhof’s newest art work, a collection of 12 doll houses tells a perfectly romantic and striking story with christmas decorations, lights, toys and even carefully cut and re-shaped colorful sponges about this almost obsessive but devoted love memory of his.

G/ This elaborate doll house collection; what is it all about?

R/ It’s about my love life. It all started as I found myself single after 15 years. 2 years went by and I thought to myself: I’m gonna start all over again. I got a girlfriend and at some point things weren’t working out and I made a work about it. I made the first doll house (“The Love House”) which was about warmth and cosiness which were things missing in our relationship. I never showed the house to her till it was finished; I wanted to make things work. She was touched and in tears but still didn’t believe in it’s essence. Therefore I made a temple which as about belief, a place where you can go and testify your love and feed your belief in love. She never saw the temple cause we had already broken up. After that I had one more relationship and a summer love. So all the houses are about what the relationship I was in at the moment was like or about things we wanted or about things we missed.

G/ Why did you decide to portray your past love relationships as little doll houses?

R/ It was pure intuition. I also wanted by all facts to get to the child within anyone who saw the houses.

G/ Is symbolism and metaphors a big part of your work?

R/ Definitely, just as much as cliches. Cliches are there cause they’re true and are images that communicate well and deliver a message right away. But the set of all of it together is always different which gives in to great metaphors and my own symbolic language. The sponges for example which I used in large amounts to build most of the houses, are products that are advertised so perfectly attractively. They are colorful they have fun shapes and different layers. I wanted my doll houses to be just as seductive and eye-itching as a sponge.

G/ Is there a doll house which you feel the most attached to? a favourite?

R/ “The Love House”. It was just the first one I ever made and strongest together with the temple. Those two are the core of the whole art work and the base for the rest of the houses. But in the end they are all important and my favorite in some way. Every time I made a new house, I finished it, I learnt from it and I got closure; therefore I became stronger. I could build a new house with more sensibility because of the knowledge gained although most of the times I never knew what the house I was building was about till I finished it. So sometimes I found myself attracting positive AND negative situations into my relationship, which weren’t even there yet.

G/ Are all these past relationships completely over? or do you still linger in the ashes?

R/ Over.

G/ Do you realise how highly romantic and yet creepy all of this is to your spectators?

Romantic yes, and creepy perhaps for my ex girlfriends. I’m so open about my love life, and probably they never got the oppurtunity to be as open about it as me. But yes probably it’s odd to some people’s eyes. In the end there’s more to it than just love. I’ve enjoyed a lot working with architecture references, marketing tricks and psychology of course.

G/ Is this whole project suposed to be something fully autobiographical or do you want people to still come to their own conclusions and see it with humor?

R/ People draw their own conclusions anyway and yes it’s autobiographical but because I’m not unique, and everyone has loved once, I think either way everyone can relate.

G/ Do all the women that these houses are based on know about this project? If so, how have they reacted?

R/ well my first girlfriend didn’t really know, but when it was almost ended I showed it and she was shocked and touched but she didn’t believe in it as I said before and that’s why the temple was built; to make her believe…I also built a boat to connect the temple and the love house which was based on her. After this she didn’t want to know about the houses anymore. My second girlfriend on the other hand, the moment she saw the temple she fell for me. And my summer love actually wanted to build the rest of the houses with me.

G/ Have you had any extreme reactions to this art work till now? anger? tears of joy? confusion?….

R/ People are mainly really enthusiastic and full of joy at first. Some make fun, some admire them, some other channel romanticism. but till the point of tears, no one yet. No one was shocked in a bad way either, most people saw the joy and the love in it and paid respect for how carefully everything had been done.

G/ What are you working on next? will the upcoming art work be linked to this story? or carry on the same vibe?

R/ My next piece is called “Love is a Battlefield and I Won” and as far as I know for now it’s about defending myself and not letting things get to me as easily as before. Now I feel very good; it feels almost like a closure piece. In a way I feel like I won and overcame the past but still I dont have a relationship. But maybe when I’m done with this piece I will have one…just because I have attracted it to me by the make of this new piece. I’m not so vulnerable anymore.

G/ Where can people come and see the houses in the future? any future exhibition spots where they will be shown?

R/ I’m not sure yet but the plan is to make a book about it, then place it at a nice exhibition and then let it travel around.

G/ What would be the dream exhibition spot for you and the houses?

R/ Most definetly MoMA. But there’s a difference as for what’s perfect for my carreer and what’s perfect for the work itself. A museum would be amazing of course, but in the end this work needs a cosy place, I see candles, and loving atmosphere.

http://www.ottenhof.com/