Twelve artists spent a week in Timelab / Ghent, Belgium to work on new artworks (or prototypes of new works) related to theme ‘In times of crisis, artists take a stand’.

Here is a glimpse to some of my favourites:

Gosie Vervloessem (BE) has created ‘recipes for disasters’ – instructions of how one can create miniature versions of natural disasters in one’s own kitchen. These experiments are related to Gosie’s longer term interest in ‘subliminal’ – whether we can achieve a sense of wonder or fear when a phenomenon is scaled to a miniature scale.

Here are a couple of making-of-a-volcano photos:

And here are some of Gosie’s recipes (she encouraged me to spread these as widely as possible):

Laurence Payout (FR) made a series of photos of hands that show gestures that seem to form some kind of sign language. The gestures are full of powerful but cannot be easily interpreted as symbols or specific messages. The gestures were inspired by found objects and street art around Ghent, and are available as stickers that people are instructed to place in the urban environment.

Britt Hatzius (UK) presented several works-in-progress, one of which was an experiment with Google image search. Britt uploaded two very minimal photographs (almost empty in content) and used a special Google search to find images that look similar. The results of this search are printed on sheets several meters long. She also asked her friends to describe what they see in the images and these texts are presented as part of the work as well.

Another work by Britt which I appreciated a lot was a sound recording of a conversation – a girl asking her mother to explain financial terminology. This work was inspired by interviews that Britt did with people working in the financial industry. In her experience, she learned much more about economics by asking someone in the industry to explain in simple terms what their daily work consists rather than reading dozens of articles from magazines.

Korinna Lindinger (AT) created a kinetic sculpture that seemed very fragile and uncertain in its movements. The white and pink colours of the plastic material reminded me of all the cheap toys that my 2-year old daughter wanted me to buy for her, which I would not do since the plastic would not survive very long in childrens’ hands.

MARSlab performance by Karl Van Welden (BE) was a simulation of a dust storm, ‘an experiment into the momentum before, during and after a natural disaster’.

‘Eggcutter Orchestra’ by Hans Beckers (BE) is an instrument made of electronics and eggcutters. The instrument was placed in Timelab’s cellar where Hans gave a short improvised concert with eggcutters and other DIY instruments. The cellar had amazing acoustics and this was one of the most intriguing/enjoyable concert experiences I’ve had in a while!

The Timelab crew did a great job in hosting the artists and facilitating collaboration. I hope to come back next year again for the next edition!