Before we go

Original digital-to-physical · Aluminum composite panel, UV ink, crystal glass pigments, high-gloss automotive clear coat

$7,700

Before every departure from anywhere near the sea, I climb to the highest point and watch the last light. The figure on the dune is me taking that last look before moving on. Before We Go is not a place. It is the thing I do before leaving one. The orange comes forward in the evening, the same hour it was made from.

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Details

Dimensions

100 × 100 × 2 cm

Weight

2 kg

Subject matter

Solitary figure on a dune at sunset, warm orange sky against cool blue-grey silhouette

Medium

Aluminum composite panel, UV ink, crystal glass pigments, high-gloss automotive clear coat

Suited for

BedroomLiving roomHallwayHotel lobby

Fire rated: D-s2,d0Commercial license

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From the studio

“Not a particular place. Before every departure from anywhere near the sea, I find the highest point and watch the last light. The dune is whatever dune is nearest. The light is whatever light is left. The ritual is the same every time: climb to the top, face the sunset, take the last look. Before We Go is that habit painted. The specific dune does not matter. The fact of doing it does.”

vonMoerenburgh

Living with this work

The work changes most in the hour before dinner, when the light in a room shifts toward warmth and the orange register comes forward. That is the hour it was made for and the hour it performs best. Collectors who notice the change and recognize the feeling of the last light before departure will find that Before We Go does something in the room at that hour that it does not do at any other. It is a work for people who take the last look.

Where it lives

Room by room: where this work thrives, where it struggles, and exactly where to hang it.

Room fit

The warm orange sky and cool blue-grey dune silhouette perform differently across the day. Morning light gives the cool register dominance: the dune holds the room and the sky is present but not insistent. Evening light advances the orange and the work comes forward, the departure light arriving in the room at the same hour it was made from. Position at 145 cm to center on a neutral wall with 1.5 to 2.5 meters of clear viewing distance. Natural or warm directional artificial light preferred.

Strong fit

The evening reading of this work, when the orange register advances with the room light, makes this a strong bedroom piece. The departure quality of the light suits the hours before sleep. Position at 145 cm to center on a neutral wall. Morning light gives the cooler, more rested reading. Warm lamp light in the evening returns it to the hour it was made from.

Work size100 x 100 cm

Hang height (center)145 cm

Wall coverageFeature wall

Ideal viewing distance1.5 - 2.5 m

About the artist

vonMoerenburgh

The Hague, The Netherlands

48,000 miles. Panama to New Zealand, Brazil to Hawaii. vonMoerenburgh was crossing the Pacific, then crossing it again, from a different angle. The ocean kept finding him. Eventually, he stopped leaving.

He came to art late. Thirty years in design, gaming, and publishing, then at 49, he started making art. The work is built on a digital foundation, finished by hand with crystal glass pigments that shift with the light. The same surface reads differently depending on where you stand and what the light is doing.

He always meant to go to art school. This is what happened instead.