DE DOOS (THE BOX), 1991

A very early performance, recorded with a hidden camera on July 5, 1991.
In this performance Jeroen Eisinga shows himself in an old fashioned suit, and then, just before the audience enters he quickly exchanges clothes with his twin brother Bart, who replaces him during the performance. The idea is that the phone mounted on a cardboard box rings continuously and whenever it’s being picked up it stops ringing. The audience desperately tries to ignore the fact that a stand-in represents the artist, even if the stand-in (his twin brother) is fairly similar to the artist, thus posing a vital question about the the artist’s persona.

In this video you can see Tjoe Fang King, Servaas, Marten Hendriks, Heiner Holtappels, Evert Maliangkay, Henk Vos, as well as a.o. Jeroen Eisinga, Bart Eisinga, Rob Pas, Pieter Becks, Bert van Ommen.

Persona:
1.
(in the psychology of C. G. Jung) the mask or façade presented to satisfy the demands of the situation or the environment and not representing the inner personality of the individual; the public personality (contrasted with anima ).
2.
a person’s perceived or evident personality, as that of a well-known official, actor, or celebrity; personal image; public role.