year's end update, sort of

 

I would have liked to do a positive and upbeat report on the new horizons opened up with the easing of restrictions, but alas, it was short-lived and somewhat dowdy... On the one hand happy to be able to visit museums and such again without too much ado – Covid passes are a relatively minor problem when considering the real havoc the virus has created in many countries not so lucky to have economies able to splurge on large amounts of vaccines for it's populace – but even then people seem unhappy... 

 

Anyway, the shows that we were able to see were okay, though I must admit I have a tendency to like the more retrospective ones... While the idea of Eurasia at the Antwerp Contemporary museum is not uninteresting, it is not new and presenting a colorful collection of all and nothing does not really give it umpf – sure – there are always interesting finds – but much like the 'wunderkamer' of yore (and which had been discarded for dedicated theme shows) it is just that... wonderment for those who have never seen this or that – while for older generations there is not much added value. One might say the same of the retrospective ICC show, a mix and match of 'déjà-vues” but here quite the contrary happens, reminding and augmenting already known information in a new light and making it even more interesting than it already was...

 

I enjoyed the retro-view of Marianne Berenhaut, someone I've been watching for a while and always appreciated the downtrodden humor depicted in the objects she collects along the way, to bring them together in an all the more disturbing conversation, avoiding the pathetic but reminding us of the fragility of our so-called cultivation... That she has been 'discovered' in recent years is a very good thing, because otherwise this important artist might have just faded into the musty folds of history (again) and been just an anecdotal footnote perhaps in the gallery of artist-artists... while if fact she was always more than an also-ran... an interesting case in point which I will keep an eye on in the future – see what happens.

 

At the BPS 22 I was a bit skeptical of the “Penultimate version of reality' by Brognon-Rollin at first – fearing yet another collection of all-sorts which seems to be a la mode nowadays ( ...admittedly I myself had been a great purveyor of such shows in an alternative past but in a museum context I expect more slice) But the fact that it is a selection by a seasoned duo in a sort of retrospective mode rather than a theoretical exercise makes it palpable – intriguing and to a degree pleasant in it's depressiveness, featuring the folly of humanity as comfy cushion. Anything but in fact, making us aware of the thin line to disaster along the edge of every day. Maybe it is because of the disaster unfolding outside that the disturbing presentations seem familiar and cozy as compared with the reality unfolding outside – one which is commented on by Alexis Dekonninck in his 'sleeping on concrete' performance series involving a playful re-use of temporary structures.... for me it is a bit bitter, since I thought the trees that have now been removed in front of the museum were it's best asset.

 

 

The fourth mail-art offering (this time Barbery & Stuckens) is interesting but perhaps a bit less than the first three and incorporating quite a bit of similar stuff – which is perhaps also a normal illustration of the phenomenon mail-art, in which authorship and re-distribution tend to favor the most active – which is why: the hard core of the surviving scene are a bunch of people known to each other for quite some time now... but as a reference to various (ether) media (radio, cassettes, records..) and insight to the contemporary social media phenomena it can count – good series, hope to see more diversity in future...

Also passed by the CivA, but there too, so much to see that nothing really stuck even though there were things that attracted the attention, for a bit, but then surpassed/exchanged for the next... the guidelines sort of tell the story – like a switchboard scheme, interesting for those that are looking for a specific glitch.

 

 

Left early

For Paris on the fast train straight from Antwerp to Paris Nord... Arived a bit later than scheduled but early enough to make our first stop a boulangerie and the a grand crème next to Sainte Eustache... From where we proceeded by metro to the Etoile, place Charles De Gaule where they were installing Christo's 'Arc de Triomphe, wrapped' -finally after years of asking, pleading, wrangling... (project first proposed in 1962' which makes it apt to this research...) and reminding me of Jiorno's comment that " the best thing an artist can do for his career is to die.."

 

But we leave that to one side for the moment and reconsider the reason for going in the first place... Jef Lambrecht's video of the reichstag-wrapping - I also appreciate Christo's work, beginning with Valley Curtain, and later also the smaller works that probably inspired Jef to package various works, often including found packages of Peter Stuyvesant cigarettes as part of the recurring series of processes concerning his fight with the tobacco giant. He also used packaging methods in his performances, resulting sometimes in more-or-less permanent sculptures, but more often than not short-lived statements... (often making use of furniture without asking the owner's consent, and after the exhibition they would be returned to regular duty as chair...)

Former BIWA co-director Karel told me about how Jef was adament about going to Paris the meet Christo during his wrapping of the Pont Neuf - he wanted to make some sort of BIWA combination-piece or conversation piece, but there was no funding and it is unclear if Jef went to Paris at the time on his own, since Karel was not willing to pay for his own travel and expenses... So far I have not found any specific reference to the Pont Neuf project. (but pretty certain he went anyway...)

A very different story is the wrapping of the Reichstag in Berlin. By this time BIWA as such no longer existed and so it was an independent effort, but still related to BIWA Ear or Earth, as far as I can remember.. ( will have to check to ascertain if he still used the BIWA label for his presentation..)

Jef filmed the wrapping process with his own handycam, even though he was there in an official capacity for the state radio ( I think) he made his own reportage entitled "Reichstag im Negligé" which he presented at the AK-37 in 1995....(video will be run as soon as digitized)

I had planned to show this video as an opener at the archive presentation in his home town Avelgem because the hosts were also into Christo and had some works of his on display... Why not use this coincidence... Then, when it became clear that the Arc de Triomphe project was going to be ahead and the video of the Berlin project would not be ready I thought I would shoot a sequel as a sort of homage...

Emerging from the metro it was already quite a sight... The silvery cloth had already been draped and for the most part already closed, except for some corners and details and fiddly bits... Much like the situation that Jef encountered in Berlin. ( a bit earlier, with some banners still being let down the façade...) The light too was similar, it had just rained and the sky was lightening up but had a similar hue and intensity as the drapery, making for a ghostly and sometimes difficult to discern silhouette... Again much like Jef had encountered in Berlin...

I found it was not that easy to get good shots but the visuals were intriguing, and by doing it myself could understand more fully the reasons for the slowness of Jef's video... The work of Christo sort of forced one to slow down... I was watching one person filming the activities through the reflection in a puddle left behind from the rain... Many passers-by, on foot motorcycle or car would pull over to take some pictures... Some viewers were obviously there specifically for the theatre being presented, and there were even some ushers provided... They were wearing plastic capes and could easily be included in the wrapping process...

Just as with Jef's video the workers were installing the drapes by means of absailing and cranes, ropes and dangling bits here and there making for an interesting variation in activities, while I myself changed position, going around the Etoile section by section, and so having a complete 360 degree roundabout view, with a shot from the middle of the Champs d!Elysees as anchorpoint. The sun came out for a bit, enhancing the contrast and making the piece nearly luminous... I decided to return in the afternoon if there was a chance of direct and low sunlight, which I imagine would be quite spectacular.

The lanterns were also a feature which I found important... Jef concentrated quite a few of his shots and still photographs on the Lanterns surrounding the Reichstag, and here too there were lanterns perfectly placed to be incorporated in the shots. There were old style and more modern lanterns, as well as broken and damaged ones which all had a useful function in the process of recording the situation.

( so perhaps I will use one of these images for a copycat Lanterne de Lantin, being Bombyx Mori, as homage and information carrier... See if I might still have a Reichstag LdL somewhere... Preferably an original sent from Berlin)

Of course used the opportunity to enjoy Paris, given that the rain had stopped and there was intermittent cloud, some rays of sun... Very agreeable weather to do some rambling around, lunching on quiche in a park in the Marée, visiting the construction site of poor Notre Dame, a sorry affair... And a visit to the newly refurbished Samaritaine... Gleaming but not what it used to be... At the Palais de Justice large security force, streets blocked for the terror trial: the perpetrators of the Bataclan massacre... Noticed in the subway older men just standing in the corridors holding up one finger... 'There is but one...' - Taliban grandfathers admonishing modernised Muslims to revert to archaic teaching... I fear France has not seen the back of Islamic radicalism just yet, perhaps it's only the beginning, seen as how the historic centre is surrounded by banlieues...

Dark clouds accompanied our train as it slid out of the Gare du Nord in the evening, but it had been a bright and agreeable day, and I was glad that I decided to go through with the undertaking, being just in time before the negligée was buttoned up completely... Now the official presentation can commence, and we will see if the 'desnudance' might be worth another trip...

Young Years

 Gruzemayer is assisting in a retrospective / archive project in far-flung west flanders fields & towns...

 

Research project Jef Lambrecht 'Young Years 1948 -1967'

 

On September 11^th 2021 it will be five years since journalist, writer & artist Jef Lambrecht left us, and members of'Samarkand vzw' thought it a fitting moment to revisit his life & work by presenting some archival material in his home town Avelgem, with specific attention to his 'early years'. Sadly there is very little material left from the early years, but by reconstruction and (local) memories quite a few references can be made to important elements in his later artistic oeuvre... Together with family-archive, friends, and some later works an attempt to sketch an impression of those early years and the lasting influence on his artistic career, as well as his extensive travels and journalism. His love for history and cultural diversity stems from an early wish to surpass the boundaries of the local landscape, but is also deeply rooted in it.

 

Aside from the presentation of a workbook, investigative presentations are planned – in the former cinema 'Rubens' across from the old school, now 'Tanghe Interiors' and the cultural community center 'Spikkerelle' are anchorpoints for ambulatory investigations around the town... Collected material will then be added to the general archives.

This is to be a first edition of a series of investigations into the backgrounds of the artist, basic chronological sections to provide an introduction to a more general 'catalogue raisonnee' in future. The next section being considered is 'student years, marriage & young family' from 1968 to 1978.

 

from september 11^th to October 24^th 2021

Spikkerelle community center and Tanghe Interiors, Kasteelstraat 8

Saturdays research-sessions at Tanghe Interiors only (11 – 17pm)

 

otherwise opening hours as per website, the work at Spikkerelle can also be seen from the outside

 

Rhomboid Reflex

 

Rombouts Wederzijds / mutually reciprocal

Finally coming across a work which speaks to me – after a long stretch of disappointments and the notion that somewhere there is no progress to be had, and old mistakes are constantly being refurbished to look like new ones... well perhaps it does sort of fit this bill, but in a sympathetic manner:

A mutually reciprocal reading of Multatuli in an anatomical circus – not quite has haphazardous as the encounter of an umbrella and a sewing machine, but as 'azartous' as one might conceive: reading the word-pairs connected by 'and' in simultaneously opposite fashion, across from each other as in a chess tournament, crucible theatre of operations – in this case called 'cirque anatomique' from the time the Ghent bourgeoisie spoke French... but very fitting. The readers being a young actress Coltette Goossens born in Belgium on the frontier of the twentieth century to the twenty first, and her opposite reader Bob Latuheru, born on Ambon when it was still a Dutch colony, just before the difficult attempts to create a free South Molukken Republic... and ending up a refugee... In this choice the entire history of the Dutch colonial era, the east India Company, the spice trade, the colonial wars and horrible attitudes prevalent in Europe concerning the well being of the indigenous peoples of the far flung lands they occupied – succinctly illustrated by Multatuli's (semi Latin pseudonym of the writer Eduard Dowes Dekker) “Max Havelaar” still one of the most read and translated book in Dutch letters....

 

 

So in this quiet and concentrated performance, lasting a few hours, with visitors coming and going – albeit quietly – there is also a high concentration of political and cultural import not apparent on the surface – iceberg style considerations needed to fathom the length and breadth of this quiet gesture... For the audience the word-sets read could be followed by a projection on the wall behind of the programme devised by Theun de Lange, longtime collaborator of Guy Rombouts and a whiz at finding technical and presentational solutions for the AZART alphabet (just have a look at the azart website) – making this in effect a quintessentially fifty-fifty work in which not only the basic premise, 'wederzijds' mutually reciprocal reading performance, but collaboration and sharing, set between theater-performance and exhibition-publication by the art-book producers 'balanseer' teetering as it were between here and there, now and then, intriguing and amazing...

 

 

 

 

 

For the exhibition space Guy Rombouts chose some déjà-vu classics always glad to run into: 'belemmering' as wel as unseen trouvailles and curiosities, mind twister-rebusses and rhomboid reflections... a refreshing dip into the mental synaptics of a wayward typesetter!

 

Mayday

Well, I have not added anything to this blog for quite some time because I thought I would wait until I might have something positive to say – reserving the grumpy dissatisfaction about the running of the city for the Dutch-language version, in which you can follow my increasing frustration and anger in your own time.. but by now it's May and I should say something... and as there is nothin positive to say, will have to complain as I do on all the other platforms:

 

 

idiotic renovations in times of climate crisis

Antwerp was a red bastion when I first arrived... it was a quaint but agreeable haven for all sorts of colorful birds, there was a great degree of tolerance, laissez-faire, slightly chaotic but entertaining mix of rare breeds; disagreement existed but it was in a boisterous café-style fashion, most of the time anyway – perhaps there was already a hard-nosed fascist coup under way, but it was not yet obvious, seemingly a minority fringe phenomenon that would peter out eventually...

That was a serious miscalculation...

Gone are the days when you could run into the mayor in a café after a moustache-club meeting, hob-nobbing with citizens, enjoying local ales among the old trees on wobbly chairs on dancing cobblestones, as if Breughel's days were not yet done – a sphere of hippiedom still lingering in the air, remnant from when Antwerp was an attractive haven for experimental everything... There was an expectation that the green movement would be part and parcel of future politics and the social aspects of of an expanding city would be dealt with in an sympathetic and inclusive manner...

But something went amiss – much like 'new labour' across the channel, the socialist movement decided they had to become more liberal, and began a rather curious metamorphosis into something that turned out to be worse than predatory capitalism – a sort of black hole in sheep's clothing, letting in all sorts of intolerant tendencies and becoming so full of itself as not to have to listen to it's electoral base anymore... the straw that broke the camels back was a pretentious and intolerant style-yuppie mayor who would not retreat from a megalomanic project to cover the city with a stinking flyover highway... (along with a whole string of mismanagement and scandal-ridden incidents that sunk the venerable movement in a quagmire of sleaze...)

So, if sleaze is the norm the voters turned elsewhere, opening the door to the the short-sighted flemish nationalism that had already been festering in the underbelly – these also mutated after a general realignment of politics in which all the major parties though they had to change their identities and lost, lost their way, lost their base, lost their credibility... even the greens who used to consider themselves a movement 'living differently' decided to get in on the game and become a political party, making all the compromises necessary to gain power... which they now share as junior partners with a deflated former social platform that calls itself 'foreskin” *and has become all but irrelevant... (*having even dropped the term socialist and stolen the name from the basic philosophy of the movement 'avanti' (vooruit) – they now have lost even the most die-hard socialist sympathisers and handcuffed themselves to a liberal coalition nobody likes...

In the meantime the flemish fascist have mutated into a saloon-party calling itself the NVA – an alliance of themselves, with the former bullies in an ostensibly separate party, but close enough to form a block against the others... These have now been the largest party in these parts for a while and have 'reorganized' the city into a showcase village...

Making away with local and provincial structures the flemish government together with the NVA mayor have torn down most of what was quaint and replaced it with a boring euro-norm attitude that caters mainly for the mindless commercialisation of culture, which in their minds is cold beer and sausage rolls, surrounded by 'flemish' masters and such... in a new designer-surrounding taken from the brochures of international bricklayer-magazines... or rather cement-mixer digest... This great renewal is of course expensive and the mussing-up of the local art historical museum is many years behind schedule and way over budget... as well as turning a perfectly agreeable park and surroundings into a Disney-style driveway for exclusive restaurant experiences... while removing works of contemporary art that might stand in the way of this new enterprise... as do the trees...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trees for some reason have become a nuisance – for years now the city has been eagerly beavering away at cutting down stately old trees that were not sick nor dangerous because of the insatiable hunger for modern living – trees as street furniture, which you can move around with a scroll & mouseclick – videogame-style... the fact that trees are habitat and part of an ecosystem that takes hears to develop doesn't really compute... sure greenwashing trees (those little sticks left to fend for themselves in shallow cement graves) are springing up everywhere, but room for real nature is disappearing fast, even in the central city park, where instead of digging out the german bunkers left over from the war they pour even more cement into the green zone for – yes restaurants, cafés, (same in the once leafy zoo..) infrastructure etc... already they pumped the water out of the lake, and announce the cutting down of old favourite trees.... where has the time gone when the city built metal support structures for old trees that were in danger of collapsing... (back in the 80's)

Whittling away at the once apparent grandeur of the remains of the golden age, only key buildings remain as tourist attraction while the rest is replaced by excruciatingly boring off-the-shelf design architecture, usually in beige or shit-brown fake brick – like the provincial flat building they just built next to the 'Steen' – oldest remnant of the city... next up is the garden (what remains of it) of the Rubens House Museum, which has to make way for a trinket-shopping experience by renowned architects – the usual glass box.

 

the only thing trees are good for

 

While politics is debating the curbing of new construction in green zones, there has never been as much concrete pourd into these former wildernesses as today – lost chances to create more park space for the expanding city- it is easier to drive a highway though a nature reserve than a suberb, raise a tower block on fields than refurbish derelict industrial buildings... the money stupid...

The rare architectural curiosity like the harbour house, retaining the old fire station and reflecting it's maritime surroundings, was a fluke, expensive but controversial – so the rest has to be a cheap and non-committal as possible... while at the same time giving off prestige allusions...

...so much for the first of dis-may...

and have not even touched on the social... happy Mayday!