Delusions of Self-immolation
'Delusions of Self-immolation' by Erik Hobijn is an interactive installation using fire. It was shown in the 1993 exhibtion 'The Body in Ruin'.
Delusions of self-immolation, demonstration. Photo © Jan Sprij 1993
The installation Delusions of self-immolation will lead a great number of visitors to ask themselves where the boundaries of their own body lie and why one would wish to discover them. Erik Hobijn has built a machine in which one may almost look death in the face, and that, equipped with fire and water spraying devices, sets light to the victim and extinguishes the flames, standing in the middle of a platform. During the course of the festival Erik Hobijn will give demonstrations.
The borders of the body are hard to define in terms of averages, because they are closely related to the psyche that demonstrates the physical limits. Despite its extremely physical nature, the way in which it is experienced is determined by personal fears, dreams and desires. Erik Hobijn's machine unleashes such strong emotional responses because it forces the person to be the guardian and researcher of their own body limits. It is a life of initialisation toward self development, with its own warmth and beauty.
