CLOSED VIEW BOX (2004)
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2004 / installation-performance / Campus Congres KDG, Antwerp (BE) / 4 × 8 × 2.5 m
‘After I acquired an atelier by squatting a space, rumors started spreading about my actions. People started asking questions about how I did it, or what I did in that space. This made me think about the “image” of the artist, and how the mysteries surrounding the working processes are sometimes overshadowed by the art itself. With that in mind I created a type of viewing box with small gaps in its façade which was an abstract version of my atelier space.
Viewers could look through small gaps in plastic sheets, as if looking inside a cracked façade of an abandoned house. What they could witness was myself and a friend doing absolute nonsense with paint on the walls, ridiculing certain documentation of past performances from the 1970s where work was made in an overly theatrical way. In addition to the viewing gaps, the public could operate a camera further inside the installation which was connected to a television and VHS recorder. The camera was taped onto an extension pole sticking through the wall with its handle offered to the public. This way, the public could watch the performance via the camera on the television screen and participate in documenting the action.’ PVW
Viewers could look through small gaps in plastic sheets, as if looking inside a cracked façade of an abandoned house. What they could witness was myself and a friend doing absolute nonsense with paint on the walls, ridiculing certain documentation of past performances from the 1970s where work was made in an overly theatrical way. In addition to the viewing gaps, the public could operate a camera further inside the installation which was connected to a television and VHS recorder. The camera was taped onto an extension pole sticking through the wall with its handle offered to the public. This way, the public could watch the performance via the camera on the television screen and participate in documenting the action.’ PVW
