On the 28th of February, a long-awaited event finally took place. On a chilly Sunday morning, 6 people gathered around three crates comprising the red marble elements of my sculpture I.XI.XIV. The plan was to ‘play’ with these the entire day. Meanwhile, Cedric Verhelst, my photographer would document each composition and Bruce Stevens has been filming the technically challenging aspects of the whole process.
In February 2020, I produced the large Marble sculpture I.XI.XIV for the international group exhibition Hortus Conclusus at the Museum Villa Dei Cedri in Bellinzona, Switzerland. As the three elements comprising the whole installation are not attached to each other, each time the work is displayed it’s intended to be done so in a different composition.
Because there was little time between the production and transport to Switzerland, I never had the opportunity to organise a day to explore diverse possible compositions. After its return to Belgium in February, the occasion arose to finally do it! Potier Stone was so kind to empty their workspace for the weekend so I could use the space and their large crane to move and lift the blocks.
I had 20 compositions prepared on paper beforehand but I knew - due to the complex nature of manipulating these large and heavy blocks - we wouldn’t be able to set them all up in one day. In the end, we managed to do 7 of those 20 proposed compositions.
I would like to give a special note of thanks to Daniel Bullinckx for his Art Handling expertise and for helping us out. Moreover, my special thanks go to Bart Wouters for helping us out on that sunny Sunday. Lastly, I want to conclude by saying that without the support of Potier Stone, this photoshoot wouldn’t have taken place.
You can find the definitive photos by Cedric here.