The Bean King in quarantine has to play all the roles himself, including that of photographer.
It is April 2020 and we are experiencing the first lockdown in Austria. Restaurants are closed, museums are closed, and meeting friends and acquaintances is only possible outdoors, if at all.
Jacob Jordaens' ”The Bean King" gives us an insight into 17th-century social life.
https://www.khm.at/kunstwerke/fest-des-bohnenkoenigs-1017
Such a convivial gathering is still not possible, recommended, or permitted in the age of coronavirus.
So this image, this reenactment, is a representation of what we have lost in 2020 and 2021, but at the same time a hope that we will experience all these facets of life again. For this reenactment, I had to slip into the roles of all the characters depicted in the original painting, then act as “set designer” and “photographer,” and I actually had a lot of fun doing it. For a moment, I felt like I had actually spent the evening with all these people.
That's what love for life and love for art and people makes possible, and it's beautiful.
