Selection out of an unnamed series of small landscapes and caves (2019) which are made out of clay, glaze and pieces of trash/scrap metal.
They are slightly abstract depictions of unconscious or decaying human figures, which are laying lonely in the raw beauty of the earth.
I imagine them as the first or the last death
humans. The signifier and interpreter of all things
has stopped functioning while ‘all things’ keep
blossoming and living.
This series has to do with the idea that human
potential is not: to identify with all the things that
we can perceive, but, to just perceive them. The
unconscious human becomes something very
vulnerable and potentially beautiful.
EARTH is an original comic series made and published in collaboration with Editions Menard.
The first edition named ‘The Original Sin’ (2019) originates from my sketchbook in which images from different origins were grouped together into eclectic collages.
The links and stories evoked by the images form the basis for possible works of art. What connects the different ensembles is the questioning nature towards the causes of conflict, the thin line between humanity and animality and the possibility of an all- encompassing sin: identity.
The Killing of Puccini (2019) is a short sound-piece.
A former famous Belgian opera singer, now eighty years old, sings the aria ‘ Sì. Mi chiamano mimì’ of ‘La Bohème’ without any musical guidance
Sculpture of the Self-sucking Man (2019)
Since the conception of ‘the self-sucking man’ it was intended to give him a physical form as well. He was 3D printed life-size in 16 pieces and later glued together.
In the process of gluing the pieces,
in preparation of an exhibition, I decided to ‘freeze’ the workshop and present the unfinished work with its surroundings.
My parents own a greenhouse and grow plants for a living. In the middle of this place suddenly appeared a slightly absurd workshop consisting of a mix of plastic body-parts, old rusty tools, glue, paper and my father and cousin wrestling to fix the body parts in the right position.
Touched by this mix of elements and people and not wanting to ignore the beauty of it, I decided that this would be the first way to show the sculpture. During the exhibition the sculpture was final-
ised.
Later on I intend to create an installation, cult and/or performance around the sculpture and spread the figure around the world.
The Harvest (2019)
‘The Harvest’ is a virtual video wherein an enormous statue of a golden boy tumbles and falls. The boy is peacefully sucking his own cock with his eyes closed and arms theatrically spread out.
The camera explores his body and skin in such close proximity that for a big part of the video it’s hard to tell for a viewer what exactly he or she is looking at. The video has no beginning or ending and is shown in a bigger than life size projection.
He is a personification of and/or a symbol for the human Ego. A shiny seductive mirror.
A man-made God. Originated out of the repeating cycle of conflict throughout the history of mankind. Self-identification and individualism brought to its extremes. An endless orgasmic explosion.
At the same time it depicts one of the last taboos; the lonely man satisfying his bodily needs with whatever means are avail-
able.
produced with Haryo Sukmawanto
Inside Conversations (2018) depicts the downfall of the self-suck-ing man. Crashed into the earth, his body is broken and scattered into pieces. His intestines are bulking out of the gaping holes in his cracked skin. His insides exposed for the world to see.
I wondered: If this man represents mankind’s collective insanity, what do his insides say?
By tweaking and interpreting parts of the novel ‘Our Lady Of the Flowers’ by Jean Genet, a poetic script of short sentences was formed and molded into a soundscape. Two fragmented female voices float around and describe the man and their (past) relationship to him during what could be a break up, a break through, a break out or a break in.
A large painting depicting a fallen figure was made on the windows and a video explored the intestines of the 3D model in a rapid pace.
This small show was my first attempt in integrating other people’s skills and work in the context of my work.
As a result it became a collaboration with Teodora Cozma (painting), Liene Aerts (who wrote a small text about the work, see 'info'), Fons Artois(video), Loeke Vanhouttegem(voice), Rachel Gruijaerts(voice) and Hans de wit (soundscape).
Pavilion experiment (2018) w/ Marie Dhaese
curated by Hilde Borgermans
While a lot of people live with a slumbering fear for their privacy -in the light of the accelerating technological evolutions-, we are often to dependent on social media, computers and cellphones to confront this fear.
For three days we lived in a glass pavilion and gave up our privacy. By photographing each other obsessively, instantly print said photographs and sticking them to the windows we tried to obstruct the direct gaze of the passersby with a self-constructed image, reclaim our privacy and find out more about this paradox.
Club promised Land (2017)
w/Egon Van Herreweghe
A one day only exhibition made during my internship with Egon van Herreweghe.
" In 1914 August Sanders took a portrait of three young farmers on their way to a ball. In this photograph the farmers gaze confidently into the camera. One hundred years later, Egon Van Herreweghe and Flor Maesen organise a ball for the farmers of a small Flemish village called Zottegem, which translates to 'crazy town'. "
Selection of
Mountainous Landscapes (2017)
Selection of untitled images
from 2015 - 2017
Light and space experiment #1 (2016)
Selection of untitled images
from 2014
The Last Messenger 2019
We presented the first version of this work in the basement of the SMAK friends, in the form of an intimate performance.
With “Messengers” I refer to the different people throughout history who have discovered something particularly special about being human and have tried to propagate this. The performance (which will later become a video work) shows one such Jesus figure who, with her last breath, tries to pass on what she has discovered to humanity. She then dies and becomes one of the lifeless human figures in the cave.
performer: Loeke Vanhoutteghem
