Backgrounds 2002

Backgrounds is a participatory photo project and performance in public space that took place on the Witte de Withstraat in Rotterdam, in the larger context of "Bodycase" project, a manifestation conceived by Gil & Moti Homegallery.

Hoppe asked passers-by to pose in front of a background chosen from eight different images; a selection out of a group of 1970s wallpaper landscapes. After making their selection, individuals were juxtaposed alongside the "real" street environment.

Fifty people participated in the performance and subsequently received their own photo via email. The project examines our role in the spectacle of daily life and the way in which we are constantly confronted with our ambivalent position within it. We roam the urban landscape, bombarded with an incessant flood of irritations, all the while trying to maintain a sense of self.

In this piece Hoppe investigate the psycho-geographic behaviours that stem from these daily confrontations and try to offer people a way to escape and re-focus on their personal positions amidst their sometimes mindless daily actions.