Castle De Lovie

Koen Vanmechelen
Domesticated Giant 2015

In his work Domesticated Giant Koen Vanmechelen highlights the complex interactions between human and nature. The installation consists of two enlarged hands, each adorned with a ring: one female hand and one male hand. On one hand lies a chick, and on the other lie diamond-like seeds. These symbols represent the forces that have influenced the course of history.

The installation depicts fertility and the wonder of life, symbolising an encounter with a new world. It invites us to start anew and explore new possibilities. The hands can give or take, depending on the perspective. Do we open the hand that holds the promise for the future, or do we close it? Do we crush life or embrace it? Do we even have a choice?
The installation emphasises humans’ significant environmental influence and also suggests a possible positive role. Domestication is a process of mutation and transformation in which two species co-evolve and become dependent on each other. The chick in the enormous palm can be crushed or released depending on the domestication process.

The ring on the human finger sheds a different light. Who is said ‘domesticated Giant’: the human or the chick? Who tames whom? Who encircles us? And which species will ultimately survive? Will the first be last, and the last be first? Is humanity more than just the eyes of nature learning to see and transform itself?

One truth remains: zoonosis, diseases transmitted from animals to humans. It reminds us of the importance of maintaining a balanced ecosystem and respecting the boundaries between human and animal habitats. This awareness encourages a more sustainable coexistence with the natural world.

Domesticated Giant | two bronze hands | 55 x 178 x 86 cm and 40 x 174 x 87 cm | 800 glass seeds, a glass chick with bronze legs | courtesy Studio Koen Vanmechelen.

Hans Op de Beeck
My bed a raft, the room the sea, and then I laughed some gloom in me 2019

My bed a raft, the room the sea, and then I laughed some gloom in me depicts a young female figure sleeping on a bed atop a wooden raft. Positioned a on circular pedestal, the raft appears to gently float through realistically-sculpted water, accented by reeds and lilies.

The work departs from Op de Beeck’s own childhood experience, which he later learnt is
shared by many: “As a child, I often imagined that my bed was a raft on the water, and the surrounding dark bedroom was the sea. When I went to sleep, I retired to my soft raft, with an emergency ration of comic strips, some sweets and a torch to read with.”
The girl in the sculpture lies on her back, fully surrendering to sleep. By the side of the bed are books, candy, a flashlight, a glass of water and sleeping pills. Butterflies flutter about, emblems of mortality and transience.

As the raft has no sail or tiller, it is controlled by chance and the natural elements, becoming a fitting metaphor for surrender. Letting yourself float is a feeling that the artist strongly associates with sleep. Much like the action of hovering. Both elements come together in the image. Sleeping and dreaming are conditions that frequently recur in the artist’s work, but rather than supporting their presence with psychoanalytic readings, they encourage the audience to submit to their own dreams through the imagination. The sculpture is life-sized, so that the viewer physically relates to the image as if to a real child. Because the girl sleeps, the viewer is the silent voyeur who watches her.

— Hans Op de Beeck BE, °1969
Hans Op de Beeck lives and works in Brussels. He produces large installations, sculptures, films, drawings, paintings, photographs and texts. Over the past twenty years Op de Beeck has shown his work extensively in solo and group exhibitions around the world.

My bed a raft, the room the sea, and then I laughed some gloom in me | polyester, polyurethane, steel, polyamide, epoxy, wood, coating 400 x 400 x 114 cm | courtesy Studio Hans Op de Beeck.

Monique Broekman
Identity and temporality 2024

During a Patchwwwork debate, Monique Broekman is told by an inhabitant of Watou, born and raised, that in the village, despite its low population, there are many hobby clubs and associations. They coexist, without much interaction. The clubs all form different identities, each with a group of like-minded individuals who relate to a common belief or interest. This encounter between the artist and the inhabitant, along with the philosophical essay Identi-tijd by Paul van Tongeren (the Dutch ‘Denker des Vaderlands 2021-2023’), forms the basis of this particular work.

By uniting, people distinguish themselves from others, in the safety of a group of like-minded people. If the common denominator is embedded in a long tradition then this association provides a sense of continuity, of being rooted and anchored in time. Long traditions make individuals feel part of a larger whole. The collective or association is important for the development of the individual.

The artist: “The central kitchen in the community centre next to our campground became an interesting melting pot of different worlds. Members of the handbow guild and members of the local petanque association mingled with the artists. The hand archers routinely grabbed bows from their bags and practiced their sport; without much regard for our presence. As the guild has done for 193 years. For me, it was a beautiful performance, with our white patchwork tents in the background.”

For her work Identity and temporality, Monique Broekman invites seven representatives of different associations of Watou and puts each of them together at a table – each as an individual television screen – to eat a meal prepared with local products. The seven tell a story about an object that has a direct relationship with the club to which they belong. Objects are bearers of meanings and stories. By talking about them, it becomes clear what is really meaningful for these seven people.

— Monique Broekman NL, °1967
With her work, Monique Broekman creates time and space for contemplation or invites people to experience and discover a different, new way of looking. She connects disciplines, times and worlds. Using public space as a studio, she works out an often philosophical question.

This work was realized with the cooperation of Nadine Taffin • De Trippeltrappers, Arne Leuridan • De Handelsraad, Joseph Delalleau • de Kerkraad, Bénédicte Deheegher • Het Internationaal Gregoriaans Festival, Carmen Dellaleau • De Ouderraad, Sebastiaan Hespeel • Toneel Watou Westhoek, Miranda Degraeve • Poperinge verbeeldt, Esgo Klein • camera man, Peter van de Zanden • technical support & Ida Boeten • cook.

Mikes Poppe
Studies of Spilled Splashes 2024

In the historic music room of lord Jules van Merris, Mikes Poppe presents an installation with dozens of self-contained drawings in various formats. This setting makes the explicit link to Poppe’s durational performance What is past, is prologue, which he presents on the – seemingly – serene water surface of the castle’s pond.

By playing with the transparency of glass, Poppe not only conceals the space in which his installation is located, but also indirectly activates the link to the kaleidoscopic history of the castle grounds and its many rooms. Through the glass you can get a glimpse of the turbulent history of this place: once a place of elite entertainment, of military strategy, of resurrection and of tranquility.

The drawings on glass merge into one evocative, spatial entity. The transparent sheets of glass act as a canvas for a representation of the tension between natural force and our physicality. Eruptive force and human intervention stylize into images that each suggest a different position and invite reflection on what can be expressed, what remains unspoken, and what may be unthinkable.

— Mikes Poppe BE, °1983
In his oeuvre, Mikes Poppe investigates the relevance and artistic expressiveness of the genre of ‘performance’ and of ‘performativity’. A recurring theme is the tension between fatality, hope, protest and the beauty of human strength.

This installation was realised in collaboration with V-Sure and Glasopmaat.be.

Ilya Kabakov
The Flying Komarov 1973 / 1974

Ilya & Emilia Kabakov
The Flying Komarov 2022

Album & Video – 15’

We do not know when or if this event happened.
The character steps off of the balcony and then disappears… Is it because the time comes when it is impossible to live on Earth and people are forced to move into virtual reality? Are they living in another dimension? Flying around, meeting others, having parties in the sky, fishing, eating, and even harnessing birds to fly with them? Or is it that the Earth is now so clean and beautiful that you could even fly? There is no longer a need for airplanes or cars. The air is so clear, absolutely transparent, and people just enjoy life flying around travelling and bringing back souvenirs from faraway places.
Maybe our character is now just living in a beautiful paradise called Earth? We don’t know if this is a fantasy, but it is up to all of us to attempt to make this a reality for the near future.

The fifteen-minute animated video is based on The Flying Komarov album, which was created in 1973-1974. Accompanying the animation is the narration of the album, recited by Viola Kanevsky, as well as a recording of Gluck’s ‘Mélodie’ from Orfeo ed Euridice, performed on piano by Riko Higuma. Technical work done by Douglas Dinger.

— Ilya Kabakov RU, °1933–2023
— Emilia Kabakov RU, °1945
Ilya Kabakov is considered the main figure of Moscow conceptual art movement during the 60s-80s and creator of the theory of total installation. He moved to the West in 1987. Ilya and Emilia Kabakov began working and living together in 1988 at their home and studio on Long Island, USA. Their works are in the collections of MoMA, Guggenheim Museum, Tate Modern, Centre Pompidou, among others.

The Flying Komarov | album edition 1994 A/P 8/80 | 32 prints, offset | courtesy Ilya and Emilia Kabakov Art Foundation.

Mat Collishaw
Heterosis Greenhouse 2023

Video – 13’45”

In his most recent work, British artist Mat Collishaw explores the relationship between the natural world, art history and how representations of nature in art can impact the way in which we see the world around us. Collishaw draws inspiration from botanical paintings by Albrecht Dürer and delves into the 17th century tulip mania and accompanying still lifes.

With the help of new technology (AI and NFT), Collishaw creates virtual nature scenes and immersive video installations. Stunning images of an almost unnatural beauty evoke a sense of both wonder and unease, inviting viewers to contemplate the implications of human intervention in the natural world. It prompts viewers to consider the potential risks and benefits of genetic engineering.

In Heterosis Greenhouse, the apocalypse has taken place. The National Gallery in London – once a place of pilgrimage for art and art history – is a desolate place. Man is gone. Nature is taking over, making its way past the masterpieces on the red wall. The paintings are still there but remain unseen. The institution has become an ecosystem sustaining precious plant species, a sacred space for the natural world to cohabit alongside icons of art history. What would it feel like to walk around here?

— Mat Collishaw UK, °1966
Mat Collishaw is a key figure in an important generation of contemporary British artists who emerged from Goldsmiths’ College in the late 1980s. His broad practice includes sculpture, photography, film and installation.

Pato Bosich
Fall of the Castle 2020

Horse Hero in North London 2022

Acquainted with the Night 2021

Pato Bosich’s works are a merging of his own symbolic narratives with an ongoing dialogue between the artist and antiquity. Fed and grown out of correspondences, interactions, and exchanges – a procession of symbols is set in motion in playful spirit and recurs in the paintings: the tower-castle – landmark buildings and the artist’s studio – the urban tree corners, the street at night, the horse, the elated and exploding characters merging with the natural surroundings and the city of London, where all of these visions are taking place.

Fall of the Castle shows a self-portrait as a tower, both a symbolic description of the artist dwelling and a crucifixion. Above, the stars or perhaps the raising ash from the studio’s fireplace, which is in turn both the heart and the chimney of the dwelling. Down below scattered in the night are memorable crossroads on route in and out of the tower.

Horse Hero in North London reveals an exquisite corpse made out of fragments of Greek sculpture. It rises up as the hero, headless, holding onto innocence and powered by the horse. The rider is twofold, an hermaphrodite. An elated woman and a struggling male. Both exist in a poetic, ecstatic-truth state, torn, struggling but never defeated, journeying relentlessly.

Venturing forth into a region of supernatural wonder, in Acquainted with the Night a London nightscape opens way to a spiralled guarded mountain where three ancient presences confront us. A Venus figure halts the journey, echoed by the planet Venus in the sky. A horse silhouette opens way to an uphill street while a lion signifies the guardian of the pass. A dreamlike juxtaposition finding archetypal narratives in the heart of the city.

— Pato Bosich CL, °1978
Pato Bosich is a London-based contemporary artist. He graduated from Camberwell School of Art in 2004. Bosich has exhibited in London, as well as across Europe, Latin America and the United States.

Horse Hero in North London | acrylic and oil on canvas |
168 × 133 × 6.5 cm | courtesy Pato Bosich.

Acquainted with the Night | acrylic and oil on canvas |
170 × 144 × 65 cm | courtesy Pato Bosich.

Karolina Halatek
Double Parallel 2023

Karolina Halatek is a Polish artist who uses light as the central medium in her work. She creates experiential site-specific spaces that incorporate visual, architectural and sculptural elements. Halatek forms installations with immersive characteristics, which are often the result of collaborations with quantum physicists, superstring theorists, and precision mechanical engineers. Karolina is interested in experiences that extend to the edge of human knowledge, seeking a visual language to evoke feelings and emotions of virtually unknown phenomena.

She is also inspired by real life experiences. The artist: “Seeing the lighting design of Pink Floyd’s stage in contrast to the grayness of early post-communist Poland was like seeing a sci-fi movie in real life: it was unbelievable! I couldn’t comprehend that I lived on the same planet, and parallel to my Polish existence, such events took place. However, my sensibility was shaped by the photographic practice of my father and grandfather. I grew up with a darkroom at home, and since I can remember, I was taken by my parents to slide shows and exhibitions, so light as a technical phenomenon was already surrounding me.”

The installation Double Parallel constructs the space through parallel luminous ellipses, which in relation to each other, generate a new place. This place has a double dimension, it can be treated as a concentric area or as a passage. Elliptical light lines have a continuation on a mirrored floor that expands and opens the perspective. Double Parallel invites the viewers to enter the spatial composition and find their own path within it.

— Karolina Halatek PL, °1985
Influenced by the Light and Space Movement and artists like James Turrell, Halatek uses light to create experiences that are minimal yet profoundly impactful. Her works have been exhibited globally across Europe, USA, Asia and the Middle East.

Double Parallel | LED, steel, acrylic | 410 x 250 x 250 cm | courtesy Karolina Halatek.