Topp & Dubio in a Street – Topp & Dubio Studio

PUBLIC SPACE PROJECT – The Hague, 2020

During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, Topp & Dubio temporarily used the empty city as an exhibition space. By showing themselves on the street 24/7, the artists responded to the emerging situation of restricted freedom of movement. The series ‘Topp & Dubio in a Street’ was shown at about forty tram stops throughout the city of The Hague.

The original photo series was created in 2016, when the artists themselves were going through a personal and artistic crisis. To give expression to the situation, the artists decided to take a photo on the street somewhere in The Hague every week, in which they themselves featured. Just like now, Topp & Dubio hardly left the city. The method was simple. At an unguarded moment, between two appointments or other activities, a phone was placed against a piece of street furniture, after which a photo was taken of the street scene with themselves in it, using a timer and self-timer. The artists do nothing other than try to strike a pose until the photo is taken. The series aligns seamlessly with the Covid crisis, in which many people were searching for a new role in a changed world. In the life-size photographs, we consistently see the same two men in a random, empty street in The Hague, at different times of day and in various seasons. The crisis lasted about a year and resulted in approximately fifty images in just as many streets. Forty of these images were displayed in the city until commercial advertising returned.