MARIJN BAX

MORES

A site specific work at Museum van Loon, 2018

In ‘Mores,’ Marijn Bax examines the blurring of boundaries between up- and downstairs in the Van Loon household 1900. Did those boundaries ever fade, and if so, when and how did they do so? What were places, and which were the moments, where borders tended to dissolve, giving way to temporary neutral grounds?

The relationship between Thora van Loon- Egidius (1865-1945) and her domestic servants was marked by hierarchy as well a mutual dependence. The stately front doors on the Keizersgracht opened onto a household forever trying to achieve an equilibrium on the foundation of the rules both written and unwritten – the mores – that both Thora and her staff had to abide to if things were to run smoothly. Keeping a balance, following those written and unwritten rules, and finding a way to guard all matters of intimacy, were important themes in that grand household.