Forever, not forever came about in 2009 and was created by the merging of two earlier works: Forever in 2000 and Stand in 2007.
It all started with paper tissues from the brand Yes, which were for sale in the supermarket, and with the artist who was just about to get married. In Forever we see Marijke van Warmerdam dressed in a wedding gown, plucking the paper handkerchiefs as though it were fruit from a tree. Lying in a pile next to her, they beautifully mirror the white cone of her dress.
It is an artwork that evokes all kinds of associations – from fall and decay to that of romantic paintings from the late nineteenth century – but that’s what’s so particularly convincing about its construction. That Stand-in would become a counterpart to Forever was not foreseen. Here we see Marijke van Warmerdam again, but now in an everyday outfit. The suggestion is that she takes away the image of Forever from before our eyes and thus exposes the illusion. Not only that of marriage, but also that of our existence as a whole. Reality itself appears to be an illusion.