Kris Vleeschouwer

TONSPUR (www.tonspur.at) has invited Kris Vleeschouwer from Antwerp, Belgium to be their artist-in-residence in January 2008. The artist is also participating in the exhibition “The Sound Of Art. TONSPUR_expanded”, based at Freiraum/quartier21 and the AiR base, where he will show his kinetic sculpture Glass Kast (2004/2008). It is one of the first in his series of spectacular falling glass installations (in various dimensions) for which he received an international art prize in 2005. Glast Kast is a construction of wooden shelves lined with 200 glass bottles. A mechanism at the back of the shelves moves very slowly but continuously. From time to time, bottles fall off the shelves, and the glass shatters on the floor.
(Courtesy Annie Gentils Gallery)

-> Projekt-Info

Kris Vleeschouwer, designs and produces sculptures where, via both high-tech and low-tech means, 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 “useful”. 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 occurrences (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.

Opening:
Friday, January 11, 2008 at 7 pm

Duration:
January 12 to February 24, daily 10 am to 8 pm

Thanks to Georg Weckwerth, curator of TONSPUR, and MQ Vienna; I was kindly invited and granted for a one month stay during January 2008 and to participate in the show “The Sound of Art.

TONSPUR_expanded”. I showed the kinetic installation “Glass Kast” (2004/2008) in the Freiraum/quartier21. This installation is one of my first of the series of falling glass installations. In the AiR-base I realized a smaller work which was interacted with the big installation and I showed a documentary video about the interactive installation “Glassworks I” (www.pixe.li/glassworks).

After the opening of the exhibition I was very thankful to have time to concentrate on my future work and to explore the culture of Vienna. I visited many galleries, museums and institutes. I met also many artists and I was very pleased to meet the other artists in residence to exchange experiences and ideas. I did also a trip to Graz to visit the Kunsthaus and to have a personal meeting with curator Adam Budak. In the Freiraum at the exhibition I had long and very interesting talks with Georg Weckwerth. And I prepared the electronics of an installation that I showed that time in Berlin.

Although the time was short, I felt very enriched and inspired during and at the end of my stay. The studio and infrastructure were wonderful to work and the personal time and space gave me the chance to reflect about my work and to start up a new project that I’m still working on. This project is about interaction. Many of my installations are kinetic and linked with other locations and actions. Glass that falls into a recycle container in the city, causes glass to fall in a museum; a goldfish that swims through a sensor opens a bottle of champagne 200 miles away; are two examples of some of my works (**). The new project is a reflection and a more conceptual approach of these interactions and will question also the sense and the nonsense of this links in a more philosophical way.

I would like to thank very much the curator, the people of the MuseumsQuartier and the institutions who are very kind and friendly, and who made this one-month living and working in Vienna possible for me.