Do you think about where an object was made and under what conditions before you buy it? During Burning Time the artist immersed herself in the seemingly useless and destructive task of burning three chandeliers with thousands of matches. Reflecting upon the mind numbing tasks of factory workers, forced to work under impoverished conditions.

As time passes, Ivi van Keulen drags match after match across the striker strip. The flame blackens a small part of a large chandelier. Surrounded by the charred pieces she continues until the whole object is carbonized, meanwhile creating a temporary lamp for these dark times. Burning Time is the logical successor to Sanding Time (2019); a meditative performance in which van Keulen immersed herself in the task of sanding down Piet Hein Eek’s iconic scrap wood chair: “We often overestimate what we can accomplish in a week and underestimate what we can achieve in a decade.” The three chandeliers are an ode to the city of Eindhoven, which housed the country’s largest match factory in the 19th century and is therefore nicknamed ‘City of Light’. The performance is also a reverent nod to the Smoke Chandelier by fellow townsman and author designer Maarten Baas.