| Kris Vleeschouwer |
Glass Work 2005 Exhibition
Akademie der Künste am Pariser Platz Installation
2 large racks+each 500x1000x150 cm+10 000 glass bottles and containers+ piston mechanism+Video monitors+Cameras at glass recyling containers in public space+ ADSL-system. Supported by Siemens [B], Philip Maertens; Espeel Constructies [B], Michel Espeel; La Manufacture du Verre [B], Mimi Renier. Courtesy by Annie Gentils Gallery, Antwerpen [B].
2 large racks+each 500x1000x150 cm+10 000 glass bottles and containers+ piston mechanism+Video monitors+Cameras at glass recyling containers in public space+ ADSL-system. Supported by Siemens [B], Philip Maertens; Espeel Constructies [B], Michel Espeel; La Manufacture du Verre [B], Mimi Renier. Courtesy by Annie Gentils Gallery, Antwerpen [B].
The
installation Glass Works consists of two large racks, five meters high and
ten meters long, filled with 10 000 glass bottles and containers. A piston
mechanism moves up and down and from left to right in these racks. This system
is linked via an ADSL system with five glass recyling containers around the
city. Whenever someone throws glass into these recycling containers, glass
is pushed out of the racks in the exhibition: the sound of breaking glass
at the exhibit site is the result of an innocent act occurring somewhere in
the city. This is filmed and the people at the exhibition can observe the
glass containers in the city on five video monitors in real time.
This system sets a lasting interaction between the city and its residents in motion. The noise of the splintering glass echoes in the exhibition spaces, mirroring the crush and bustle of life in the city. At the same time, the installation is captivating as a powerful monumental sculpture
This system sets a lasting interaction between the city and its residents in motion. The noise of the splintering glass echoes in the exhibition spaces, mirroring the crush and bustle of life in the city. At the same time, the installation is captivating as a powerful monumental sculpture
Kris Vleeschouwer,
born in Mortsel, Belgium in 1972. He lives and works in Brussel. In 2000
he received his Master degree in Visual Arts at the Saint Lukas Hoge School
Antwerp and in 2001-2004 he was invited by the Higher Institute of Fine
Art, Antwerp. K. Vleeschouwer won the Prize Bozar with his installation
Glassworks I in 2005. He was artist in residence at the Zentrum für
Kulturproduktion, city of Bern, Switzerland, till the end of 2005.
Vleeschouwer designs and produces sculptures where, via means of high-tech and low-tech, a junction is formed between knowledge and scepticism, relativism and absurdity. The sculptures seem most akin to factory production-lines, but without the production of anything "usefull". They are aesthetically charming and robust in their finish, aggressive in their action, and melancholic in their concept. They contain the drama and symbolism of unintentional accidents, with a lot of noise, dangerous broken glass and unnerving alarms. Small, trivial occurences (for example, a meandering goldfish), consistently engender violent and clamorous consequences. The unpredictable connection between a (seemingly) trivial cause and the explosive effect is utterly fascinating, from a philosophical as well as a political point of view. www.galeries.nl/gentils
Vleeschouwer designs and produces sculptures where, via means of high-tech and low-tech, a junction is formed between knowledge and scepticism, relativism and absurdity. The sculptures seem most akin to factory production-lines, but without the production of anything "usefull". They are aesthetically charming and robust in their finish, aggressive in their action, and melancholic in their concept. They contain the drama and symbolism of unintentional accidents, with a lot of noise, dangerous broken glass and unnerving alarms. Small, trivial occurences (for example, a meandering goldfish), consistently engender violent and clamorous consequences. The unpredictable connection between a (seemingly) trivial cause and the explosive effect is utterly fascinating, from a philosophical as well as a political point of view. www.galeries.nl/gentils
