comments

What a marvelous project! - dhr. W.

I am impressed. A magnificent piece of art! My compliments. You have not only created something beautiful and lasting in its simplicity, but did not judge and left everything intact. You dared to merge division in this respect. - Mevr. v.d. M.

Very impressive! - mevr. H.

Beautiful idea and creation - mevr. H.

It really struck a chord with me - mevr. B.

explanation in 9 m 5 s

your own name
The artwork contains two ‘nomen nescio’, ‘unnamed’. After all, there have been many saints who are unknown to us. If you chose to include your own name, one of the ‘nomen nescio’ will be replaced by your name.

Order your own copy of 'communio sanctorum'.
Read on below.

sollemnitas omnium sanctorum

Martin Luther proclaimed his 95 theses on 31 October 1517.
I, Maarten Cornelis Duifhuizen, presented my artwork entitled ‘communio sanctorum’ on 1 November 2017; All Saints’ Day, a typical Roman Catholic feast, but also Harvest Day, a typical Protestant feast.
500 years have passed since 1517. That’s a long time. Or is it only half a millennium? Time in a fourth dimension? What is time?

To take time
To have time
To find time
To get time

Take time to watch this short movie above…
So you don’t have time?
I would say: find time!
Because you get time…

One of the eldest Christian prayers, Gloria Patri, is about time. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.

credo in sanctam ecclésiam catholicam

Commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation inspired me to work with the theme ‘time’. I also got time… a two years long intuitive search for the holy, Christian, and apostolic Church since 1517.

communio sanctorum

The result is this ‘communio sanctorum’ artwork, holy communion.
The work presents the names of 500 Protestant and 500 Roman Catholic people, starting with Martin Luther as well as Adriaan Boeyens, 1518: William Tyndale alongside Nicasius van Heeze, 1519, 1520, untill 2017.

Familiar names and unfamiliar names,
Dutch names and foreign names.
1000 Christians
1000 baptised people with Christian names

nomen nescio...

...can be translated as ‘I do not know the name’. You will find this in the artwork twice. After all, there have been many Roman Catholic and Protestant people who are unknown to us.
The result of my search is of course rather subjective, as well as by people who supported me. They surprised me with their suggestions. To me, it became clearer: everything is not black nor it is white.
I suspect you will get new insights too when you discover the stories behind the names…

simul iustus et peccator

It may trigger questions. That would be appropriate for an artwork. The title undoubtedly triggers the question:
What is holy
What are saints?

A Roman Catholic person probably will have a different association with those words than a Protestant person. Luther referred to each Christian as being ‘simul iustus et peccator’, both righteous and sinner at the same time.
Holiness is difficult to explain. I therefore refrain from any explanation. The artwork displays horizontal lines. When you turn it around, those lines are vertical. Maybe that is holiness… a vertical line, a connection from above to below and the other way around. Also a cross, an essential symbol for both Roman Catholic as Protestant people, has a vertical origin and a horizontal impact.

masterpiece

The names are hidden in this small white box. Upon opening, you will see a small almost white artwork, 10 by 10 centimeters, with visible horizontal lines.



I see my life as a line with a beginning but without end. A ‘row of Christian people’ is also a line that starting before 1517 that will continue beyond 2017. A countless community…
The horizontal lines seem grey. However, when you take the magnifying glass, you will discern the names, 1000 names.
Black white. Or not really?
If someone is watching superficially he would see nothing but grey lines. The person who watches more accurately, will see more!
We only see a small part of the things that really exist.

When you take out the piece of art, you actually have 1000 lives in one handbreadth.

Inside the box, you will also find a description of the work in Dutch and English.
Below you will find the title of the artwork ‘communio santorum’.

At the back of the artwork is written at the top, as I always do: SDG (Soli Deo Gloria).
Underneath you will find technical details, year, edition (as in copy 21 out of 1000), and signature.

unique artwork with 1000 variations

Each artwork will have a different order of the 1000 names in the list, so each copy will be unique. To the eye, they will all look the same, but appearance can be deceptive.
Subsequently, these 1000 names will find 1000 receivers, these 1000 names go to another 1000 names…

your own name

When you order this artwork, you can choose to include your own Christian (baptism) name. In this case, one of the ‘nomen nescio’ will be removed.
The receiver of such an artwork will have to search for his or her own name as the order of names will be different for each artwork.