Road Rehearsals

Philip Lüschen received a grant to develop new work. In this development process, Philip collaborates with Victor Hachmang to create a hybrid visual language. They start from Philip’s photographic studies of Japanese driving schools as "rehearsal spaces": controlled environments where behavior and public space are practiced and simulated. Within the process, they work with the tension between photographic image production as a mechanical and recording medium and Victor’s manual, illustrative image interventions. In dialogue with Victor’s graphic and narrative practice, this documentary material shifts toward fiction, atmosphere, and imagination. The goal is to create a layered visual world in which observation and imagination continuously influence each other, redefining the way we experience and understand space.

A ritual in which a parking stone rises from a bed of sand. A free flight from a mysterious hot air balloon station. A model city where public life is continually rehearsed. The work of visual artist and scenographer Philip Lüschen operates at the intersection of art, theater, and architecture. In his practice, he explores the built environment, with particular attention to the latent potential of public space, the role of fiction in everyday "scripts," and the dynamics between controlled and uncontrolled environments. In dialogue with the (urban) landscape, he creates site-specific installations, performances, and films. Philip’s projects have been presented internationally at art institutions such as Het Nieuwe Instituut and the Museum of Modern Art in Taipei, as well as at film festivals in Brazil, Japan, and the United States.