A professional swimmer doing front crawl is a pretty familiar television image. But not many know how the water swirls, ripples and tumbles. This type of forms, created as accidental byproducts, form the starting point for Paulien Barbas’ work. The title Spillover refers to the moment right before rest, the moment when something is coming into existence and accidental byproducts happen. Barbas aims to make something which is not physically present, like the movement of materials, concrete. In part of the installation the circles created on a lithography stone, as the old image is removed, become an image on their own. Besides that, amongst other elements, a fine tingling sound fills the room. This sound was recorded when a ceramic kiln opened prematurely, making the objects cool too quickly and the enamel crack. A sound generally known by ceramists as a flaw in the production process, but here unveiled as a dear unintended surprise.

Sophia Zürcher is an Art historian and writes about art. She is based in the Netherlands.