{"id":20643,"title":"xpo - 2018 - The Old Up \u0026 Down [EN, essay]","dimensions":"3 p.","date_begin":null,"material":"","art_status_id":13,"legal_status_id":47,"category_id":25,"platform_id":1,"deleted":false,"asset_count":1,"stream_count":0,"collection":"Hans Theys Archive / Archief Hans Theys","cached_tag_list":"essay","publishing_process_id":1,"annotation":"","date_end":null,"reference":"","stream_count_app":8,"permalink":"xpo-2018-the-old-up-down-en-essay","description_ca":"","short_description_ca":"","description_it":"","short_description_it":"","cached_primary_asset_url":null,"cached_actor_names":"Hans Theys","hide_from_json":true,"prev_platform_id":null,"description_uk":null,"short_description_uk":null,"description_tr":null,"short_description_tr":null,"mhka_works":false,"category":{"en":"Text","nl":"Tekst","fr":"Texte"},"poster_image":null,"poster_credits":null,"translations":[{"locale":"en","short_description":"","description":"\u003cp style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003eThe Old Up \u0026amp; Down: an expo unfolding simultaneously at three locations with sculptures by Dries Van Laethem, Kasper De Vos, Leendert Van Accoleyen, Robert Soroko and Simon Masschelein, circling around sculptures by Vic Gentils.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nWhen we would write in pluralis majestatis, as some learned folks prefer to do, we would state that we hold no grudge against interactive, relational or otherwise conceptual art, and we van prove this by means of numerous publications and other things done, but as we reach the autumn of our life, we prefer the honest floundering, which when lucky will result in vulnerable, brittle artefacts simultaneously masculine and delicate, sometimes wondrously poetic in the sense Tarkovki described it in a forgotten place: as an improper, confusing, but moving and haunting way of being, which seems to repeat the incoherent, gripping shapelessness of the world.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nAnd therefore I have assembled work by five different sculptors, young men in their prime, senses still fresh, brains untamed, bellies not yet dead as stones: resilient lads, hopping on their still strong feet, producing inscrutable sounds and wildly gesticulating when talking about the form of their work, but also enjoying silence. Because irony bores us and parody loses its taste too quickly, so that we prefer to invent a new beauty for the common man, instead of ruminating on the old and mouldy and lofty or celebrating the newly produced flimflam.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nAnd I propose to observe the work of these five sculptors at three different locations. As such these artworks can show themselves in several ways, in different proportions with respect to each other, like a sculptural vortex in space and time, as such allowing the works of five artists to rise around a few inherited artworks of Vic Gentils. \u0026nbsp;\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nThe oldest of these five artists is Kasper De Vos (\u0026deg;1988), brought to my attention in 2008 by the sculptress Tamara Van San, who had already seen him in action. These days many people are aware of De Vos and he is known to make magnificent artworks. As such he can help by connecting his name and body of work to the work of four newly born artists. De Vos is at his best when modelled body parts are connected with found objects to form grotesque stacks. The logic behind these stacks is physical. As such we somewhere recognize a wooden coat rack, connected to part of an umbrella, a vacuum cleaner hose, the backside of a Thonet chair, a heating pipe and a beer bottle. Behold these playful forts, subtle puzzles and exquisite corpses!\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nDries Van Laethem (\u0026deg;1996) produces contrapuntal balancing exercises or spatial poems reminding us of Baudelaire\u0026rsquo;s fencing strollers. A used metal rack rolls up like an insect and is frozen in this form by a hardly visible steel cable. Objects attempt to arise but their feet are wheels or heavy clogs and their reach is at the same time comic and graceful. The sculptures produced in this way are not overdone, stiff or rough. They contain tense but equally playful and funny qualities (for instance the clumsy welding).\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nThe sculptures remind us that humour and poetry tear holes in the visual fabric that protects us against the chaotic threatening reality, but at the same time imprison us by hiding the possibilities of the same reality.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nSimon Masschelein\u0026rsquo;s (\u0026deg;1994) sculptural thinking starts from the joint. He fabricates hinged sculptures. How did he come to this? At a time, he was surrounded by pieces of wood, never longer than one and a half meter, nicely shaped, and this was a starting point to envision higher sculptures, resembling ramshackle stacked totem poles. So he started looking for ways to connect these elements, initially similar to ways protheses are connected to bodies, then morphing them into hinges. One sculpture has been conceptualized from a knee, another from the way a femur fits the pelvis. \u0026nbsp;One sculpture, made out of forty kilos of sculpted alabaster, is held upright by a tensioned cable self-riveted to an iron ball which is clamped in a bracket. A strange, two-piece figure on two wobbly feet giving shape to a modest contrapposto, sometimes folds forward. A tree trunk is chiselled into a spiral column, then hollowed out, halved and reconnected by a wooden link. For me, the beauty of Masschelein\u0026rsquo;s art is the way he adapts wood, stone and metal and combines these elements into new shapes. No assemblages, no old stuff, but powerful new work with a hardly hidden tenderness.\u0026nbsp;\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nRobert Soroko (\u0026deg;1990) balances objects like swaying reed plumes. When deconstructed his sculptures rest and resemble delicate perpendicular pencil lines or thin bamboo sticks, resting and meditating next to each other. Once assembled they turn and sway, try to remain upright without falling over or falling apart. We meet a precarious equilibrium, like a yogi balancing on one leg hoping to start hovering. Or do the sculptures already hover? And are only our brains and bodies so heavy? Soroko is a disarming man with an open face, just like his artwork, which is characterised by a liberating understatement. His welding is amusing. He combines metal, wood, bamboo, ceramics, paper and textile in novel ways.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nLeendert Van Accoleyen (\u0026deg;1991) seems to be storming the world. Everything needs to go up into heights: heavy beams or stones, large blocks of polystyrene. Suspending slats are tied together with an extremely thin cord, oblique beams are tilted upwards with ropes. The objects have wheels in order to be able to move them. Large wheels of plaster, small rolling metal tubes. Homemade stoves produce a humming sound, whilst the upright planks which are feeding the fire are steadily and invisibly becoming shorter. The objects are being moved, dragged, lifted and brought to a state of temporary hovering. It seems nature is reflecting on itself and is using the artist to bring new constellations into being. Stunning. Luring us into breathless observation.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nHans Theys, Montagne de Miel, October 10th 2018\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nTranslated by Jacques\u003c/p\u003e\r\n"},{"locale":"nl","short_description":"","description":"\u003cp style=\"text-align: justify;\"\u003eThe Old Up \u0026amp; Down: een zich op drie plekken gelijktijdig ontrollende tentoonstelling met sculpturen van Dries Van Laethem, Kasper De Vos, Leendert Van Accoleyen, Robert Soroko en Simon Masschelein, cirkelend rond beeldhouwwerken van Vic Gentils.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nAls wij in de pluralis majestatis zouden schrijven, zoals sommige gestudeerde lieden plegen te doen, dan zouden wij zeggen dat wij niks hebben tegen interactieve, relationele of anderszins conceptuele kunst die weinig vruchten brengt, en dat wij dat met veel gepubliceerde geschriften en andere voortbrengselen kunnen staven, maar dat wij uiteindelijk, de herfst des levens naderend, toch de voorkeur geven aan het eerlijke ploeteren, dat als we geluk hebben uitmondt in gemakkelijk aan te vallen, kwetsbare, broze voorwerpen, mannelijk en teer tegelijk, grappig soms, en van een ongehoorde po\u0026euml;zie zoals Tarkovski die omschrijft op een plek die niemand nog kan aanwijzen: als een oneigenlijke, verwarrende, maar ontroerende en beklijvende manier van zijn die de onsamenhangende, aangrijpende vormeloosheid van de wereld lijkt te herhalen.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nEn daarom heb ik hier samengebracht enige werken van vijf verschillende beeldhouwers, jonge mannen nog, in de fleur van hun bestaan, de zintuigen fris nog, het brein ongetemd, de buik nog niet doodgestorven: veerkrachtige lieden, wippend nog op de voeten, onnaspeurlijke geluiden voortbrengend en gebaren makend als ze over de vorm van hun werk spreken, ook zwijgzaam graag. Want de ironie verveelt ons, de parodie verliest zijn smaak al te gauw, en liever vinden wij een nieuwe schoonheid uit voor het volk en uit het volk, dan het oude verhevene en beschimmelde te herkauwen of het nieuwerwets holle te bespotten.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nEn gelijktijdig op drie verschillende plekken stel ik u voor naar de werken van deze vijf beeldhouwers te kijken, zodat deze werken zich op verschillende manieren kunnen tonen, zich anders tegenover elkaar en de ruimte verhoudend, als een veelzijdige sculpturale werveling in ruimte en tijd, zodat u het werk vijfentwintig kunstenaars ziet oprijzen rond enkele nagelaten werken van Vic Gentils.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nDe oudste van deze vijf kunstenaars is Kasper De Vos (\u0026deg;1988), mij in 2008 aangewezen door de beeldhouwster Tamara Van San, die hem aan het werk had gezien. Vandaag weten veel meer mensen dat hij bestaat en prachtig werk maakt, zodat hij de anderen kan helpen door zijn naam en werk met het hunne te verbinden. Op zijn sterkst is De Vos wanneer geboetseerde lichaamsdelen verbonden worden met gevonden voorwerpen om tot groteske stapelingen te komen. De logica achter deze stapelingen is fysiek. Zo herkennen wij ergens een houten kapstok, die wordt aangesloten op een stuk paraplu, een stofzuigerbuis, de achterzijde van een Thonet-stoel, een verwarmingsbuis en een bierfles. Een ander werk, een fontein, bestaat onder meer uit drie gestapelde blauwe kratten die met spanriemen worden vastgeklemd op een lastafel. Zo ontstaan speelse forten, fijnzinnige puzzels, exquise kadavers.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nDries Van Laethem (\u0026deg;1996) maakt contrapuntische evenwichtsoefeningen of puntdichten die doen denken aan de schermende flaneurs van Baudelaire. Een gebruikt metalen rek rolt zich op als een insect en wordt in die houding bevroren door een nauwelijks zichtbare staalkabel. De dingen proberen in de hoogte te klimmen, maar hun voeten zijn wieltjes of zware klompen en hun reiken is zowel koddig als sierlijk. De voortgebrachte sculpturen zijn niet log, overwerkt, stroef of beduimeld. Ze hebben iets straks, iets dansants en iets grappigs (bijvoorbeeld het klunzige laswerk). Ze herinneren ons eraan dat humor en po\u0026euml;zie scheuren trekken in de beeldende voorhang die ons beschermt tegen de chaotische, bedreigende werkelijkheid, maar ons tegelijk gevangen houdt door de mogelijkheden van diezelfde werkelijkheid aan ons blikveld te onttrekken.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nSimon Masschelein (\u0026deg;1994) denkt vanuit het gewricht. Hij maakt scharnierende beeldhouwwerken. Hoe is dat gekomen? Rond hem lagen stukken hout, nooit langer dan anderhalve meter, mooie vormen zelf gekapt, en vanuit de wens hoger te kunnen reiken, hogere sculpturen te maken, als wankel gestapelde totempalen, ging hij zoeken naar manieren om deze stukken te verbinden, eerst gelijkend op de uitwendige koppelingen van prothesen aan het nog levende lidmaat, later de vorm krijgend van scharnieren. E\u0026eacute;n sculptuur is gedacht vanuit een knie, een andere vanuit de manier waarop een dijbeen in het bekken past. E\u0026eacute;n beeldhouwwerk, bestaande uit veertig kilo zelf vervaardigde ringen van albast, wordt enigszins omhooggehouden door een opgespannen kabel die, zelf vastgeklonken aan een ijzeren bol, in een beugel geklemd zit. Een vreemd tweedelig figuurtje, op twee wankele voetjes die gestalte geven aan een bescheiden contrapposto, klapt soms voorover. Een boomstam wordt bewerkt tot spiraalzuil, vervolgens uitgehold, gehalveerd en opnieuw verbonden met een houten schakel. Enzovoort. Het mooie aan het werk van Masschelein, voor mij, is de manier waarop hij hout, steen en metaal zelf bewerkt en vervolgens combineert tot nieuwe vormen. Geen assemblages. Geen oud spul. Nieuw, krachtig werk met een nauwelijks verborgen tederheid, zoals ik het graag heb.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nRobert Soroko (\u0026deg;1990) laat de dingen balanceren als wiegende rietpluimen. Uit elkaar genomen, liggen zijn sculpturen als iele potloodlijnen van bamboe mooi geordend naast elkaar te rusten of te mediteren, eenmaal in elkaar geschoven gaan ze draaien en keren, proberen ze staande te blijven, niet te kantelen of uiteen te vallen. Het is een precair evenwicht, dat hier gestalte krijgt, als een yogi die nu nog op \u0026eacute;\u0026eacute;n been staat, maar straks hoopt te zweven. Of zweven de dingen al? En zijn het alleen onze breinen en lijven die zo zwaar zijn? Soroko is een ontwapenend man met een open gelaat. Zijn werk lijkt op hem. Het is open en op een bevrijdende manier ingehouden. Zijn laswerk is grappig. De manier waarop hij metaal, hout, bamboe, keramiek, papier en textiel combineert, is nieuw.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nLeendert Van Accoleyen (\u0026deg;1991) lijkt de wereld te bestormen. Ook hier moet alles omhoog, de hoogte in en weg van de grond: zware balken of stenen, grote piepschuimen blokken. Schorende latten worden samengebonden met heel dun touw, schuin omhooggetilde balken worden op hun plaats gehouden door dikker touw. De dingen hebben wielen om ze te kunnen verplaatsen. Grote wielen van gips, kleine rollende metalen hulzen. Zelfgemaakte kachels brengen een bromtoon voort terwijl de hen voedende, staande houten latten onzichtbaar korter worden. De dingen worden verplaatst, gesleept, opgetild en tot een tijdelijk zweven gebracht. Alsof de natuur zelf aan het denken gaat en deze jongeman gebruikt om tot nieuwe constellaties te komen. Verbluffend. Ons lokkend in een ademloos kijken.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nHans Theys, Montagne de Miel, 10 oktober 2018\u003c/p\u003e\r\n"},{"locale":"fr","short_description":"","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp style=\"color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: sans-serif,Arial,Verdana,\u0026amp;quot;trebuchet ms\u0026amp;quot;; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;\"\u003eThe Old Up \u0026amp; Down: an expo unfolding simultaneously at three locations with sculptures by Dries Van Laethem, Kasper De Vos, Leendert Van Accoleyen, Robert Soroko and Simon Masschelein, circling around sculptures by Vic Gentils.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nWhen we would write in pluralis majestatis, as some learned folks prefer to do, we would state that we hold no grudge against interactive, relational or otherwise conceptual art, and we van prove this by means of numerous publications and other things done, but as we reach the autumn of our life, we prefer the honest floundering, which when lucky will result in vulnerable, brittle artefacts simultaneously masculine and delicate, sometimes wondrously poetic in the sense Tarkovki described it in a forgotten place: as an improper, confusing, but moving and haunting way of being, which seems to repeat the incoherent, gripping shapelessness of the world.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nAnd therefore I have assembled work by five different sculptors, young men in their prime, senses still fresh, brains untamed, bellies not yet dead as stones: resilient lads, hopping on their still strong feet, producing inscrutable sounds and wildly gesticulating when talking about the form of their work, but also enjoying silence. Because irony bores us and parody loses its taste too quickly, so that we prefer to invent a new beauty for the common man, instead of ruminating on the old and mouldy and lofty or celebrating the newly produced flimflam.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nAnd I propose to observe the work of these five sculptors at three different locations. As such these artworks can show themselves in several ways, in different proportions with respect to each other, like a sculptural vortex in space and time, as such allowing the works of five artists to rise around a few inherited artworks of Vic Gentils. \u0026nbsp;\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nThe oldest of these five artists is Kasper De Vos (\u0026deg;1988), brought to my attention in 2008 by the sculptress Tamara Van San, who had already seen him in action. These days many people are aware of De Vos and he is known to make magnificent artworks. As such he can help by connecting his name and body of work to the work of four newly born artists. De Vos is at his best when modelled body parts are connected with found objects to form grotesque stacks. The logic behind these stacks is physical. As such we somewhere recognize a wooden coat rack, connected to part of an umbrella, a vacuum cleaner hose, the backside of a Thonet chair, a heating pipe and a beer bottle. Behold these playful forts, subtle puzzles and exquisite corpses!\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nDries Van Laethem (\u0026deg;1996) produces contrapuntal balancing exercises or spatial poems reminding us of Baudelaire\u0026rsquo;s fencing strollers. A used metal rack rolls up like an insect and is frozen in this form by a hardly visible steel cable. Objects attempt to arise but their feet are wheels or heavy clogs and their reach is at the same time comic and graceful. The sculptures produced in this way are not overdone, stiff or rough. They contain tense but equally playful and funny qualities (for instance the clumsy welding).\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nThe sculptures remind us that humour and poetry tear holes in the visual fabric that protects us against the chaotic threatening reality, but at the same time imprison us by hiding the possibilities of the same reality.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nSimon Masschelein\u0026rsquo;s (\u0026deg;1994) sculptural thinking starts from the joint. He fabricates hinged sculptures. How did he come to this? At a time, he was surrounded by pieces of wood, never longer than one and a half meter, nicely shaped, and this was a starting point to envision higher sculptures, resembling ramshackle stacked totem poles. So he started looking for ways to connect these elements, initially similar to ways protheses are connected to bodies, then morphing them into hinges. One sculpture has been conceptualized from a knee, another from the way a femur fits the pelvis. \u0026nbsp;One sculpture, made out of forty kilos of sculpted alabaster, is held upright by a tensioned cable self-riveted to an iron ball which is clamped in a bracket. A strange, two-piece figure on two wobbly feet giving shape to a modest contrapposto, sometimes folds forward. A tree trunk is chiselled into a spiral column, then hollowed out, halved and reconnected by a wooden link. For me, the beauty of Masschelein\u0026rsquo;s art is the way he adapts wood, stone and metal and combines these elements into new shapes. No assemblages, no old stuff, but powerful new work with a hardly hidden tenderness.\u0026nbsp;\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nRobert Soroko (\u0026deg;1990) balances objects like swaying reed plumes. When deconstructed his sculptures rest and resemble delicate perpendicular pencil lines or thin bamboo sticks, resting and meditating next to each other. Once assembled they turn and sway, try to remain upright without falling over or falling apart. We meet a precarious equilibrium, like a yogi balancing on one leg hoping to start hovering. Or do the sculptures already hover? And are only our brains and bodies so heavy? Soroko is a disarming man with an open face, just like his artwork, which is characterised by a liberating understatement. His welding is amusing. He combines metal, wood, bamboo, ceramics, paper and textile in novel ways.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nLeendert Van Accoleyen (\u0026deg;1991) seems to be storming the world. Everything needs to go up into heights: heavy beams or stones, large blocks of polystyrene. Suspending slats are tied together with an extremely thin cord, oblique beams are tilted upwards with ropes. The objects have wheels in order to be able to move them. Large wheels of plaster, small rolling metal tubes. Homemade stoves produce a humming sound, whilst the upright planks which are feeding the fire are steadily and invisibly becoming shorter. The objects are being moved, dragged, lifted and brought to a state of temporary hovering. It seems nature is reflecting on itself and is using the artist to bring new constellations into being. Stunning. Luring us into breathless observation.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nHans Theys, Montagne de Miel, October 10th 2018\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nTranslated by Jacques\u003c/p\u003e\r\n"},{"locale":"ru","short_description":"","description":""},{"locale":"de","short_description":"","description":"\u003cp style=\"color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: sans-serif,Arial,Verdana,\u0026amp;quot;trebuchet ms\u0026amp;quot;; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: justify; text-decoration: none; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px;\"\u003eThe Old Up \u0026amp; Down: an expo unfolding simultaneously at three locations with sculptures by Dries Van Laethem, Kasper De Vos, Leendert Van Accoleyen, Robert Soroko and Simon Masschelein, circling around sculptures by Vic Gentils.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nWhen we would write in pluralis majestatis, as some learned folks prefer to do, we would state that we hold no grudge against interactive, relational or otherwise conceptual art, and we van prove this by means of numerous publications and other things done, but as we reach the autumn of our life, we prefer the honest floundering, which when lucky will result in vulnerable, brittle artefacts simultaneously masculine and delicate, sometimes wondrously poetic in the sense Tarkovki described it in a forgotten place: as an improper, confusing, but moving and haunting way of being, which seems to repeat the incoherent, gripping shapelessness of the world.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nAnd therefore I have assembled work by five different sculptors, young men in their prime, senses still fresh, brains untamed, bellies not yet dead as stones: resilient lads, hopping on their still strong feet, producing inscrutable sounds and wildly gesticulating when talking about the form of their work, but also enjoying silence. Because irony bores us and parody loses its taste too quickly, so that we prefer to invent a new beauty for the common man, instead of ruminating on the old and mouldy and lofty or celebrating the newly produced flimflam.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nAnd I propose to observe the work of these five sculptors at three different locations. As such these artworks can show themselves in several ways, in different proportions with respect to each other, like a sculptural vortex in space and time, as such allowing the works of five artists to rise around a few inherited artworks of Vic Gentils. \u0026nbsp;\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nThe oldest of these five artists is Kasper De Vos (\u0026deg;1988), brought to my attention in 2008 by the sculptress Tamara Van San, who had already seen him in action. These days many people are aware of De Vos and he is known to make magnificent artworks. As such he can help by connecting his name and body of work to the work of four newly born artists. De Vos is at his best when modelled body parts are connected with found objects to form grotesque stacks. The logic behind these stacks is physical. As such we somewhere recognize a wooden coat rack, connected to part of an umbrella, a vacuum cleaner hose, the backside of a Thonet chair, a heating pipe and a beer bottle. Behold these playful forts, subtle puzzles and exquisite corpses!\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nDries Van Laethem (\u0026deg;1996) produces contrapuntal balancing exercises or spatial poems reminding us of Baudelaire\u0026rsquo;s fencing strollers. A used metal rack rolls up like an insect and is frozen in this form by a hardly visible steel cable. Objects attempt to arise but their feet are wheels or heavy clogs and their reach is at the same time comic and graceful. The sculptures produced in this way are not overdone, stiff or rough. They contain tense but equally playful and funny qualities (for instance the clumsy welding).\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nThe sculptures remind us that humour and poetry tear holes in the visual fabric that protects us against the chaotic threatening reality, but at the same time imprison us by hiding the possibilities of the same reality.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nSimon Masschelein\u0026rsquo;s (\u0026deg;1994) sculptural thinking starts from the joint. He fabricates hinged sculptures. How did he come to this? At a time, he was surrounded by pieces of wood, never longer than one and a half meter, nicely shaped, and this was a starting point to envision higher sculptures, resembling ramshackle stacked totem poles. So he started looking for ways to connect these elements, initially similar to ways protheses are connected to bodies, then morphing them into hinges. One sculpture has been conceptualized from a knee, another from the way a femur fits the pelvis. \u0026nbsp;One sculpture, made out of forty kilos of sculpted alabaster, is held upright by a tensioned cable self-riveted to an iron ball which is clamped in a bracket. A strange, two-piece figure on two wobbly feet giving shape to a modest contrapposto, sometimes folds forward. A tree trunk is chiselled into a spiral column, then hollowed out, halved and reconnected by a wooden link. For me, the beauty of Masschelein\u0026rsquo;s art is the way he adapts wood, stone and metal and combines these elements into new shapes. No assemblages, no old stuff, but powerful new work with a hardly hidden tenderness.\u0026nbsp;\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nRobert Soroko (\u0026deg;1990) balances objects like swaying reed plumes. When deconstructed his sculptures rest and resemble delicate perpendicular pencil lines or thin bamboo sticks, resting and meditating next to each other. Once assembled they turn and sway, try to remain upright without falling over or falling apart. We meet a precarious equilibrium, like a yogi balancing on one leg hoping to start hovering. Or do the sculptures already hover? And are only our brains and bodies so heavy? Soroko is a disarming man with an open face, just like his artwork, which is characterised by a liberating understatement. His welding is amusing. He combines metal, wood, bamboo, ceramics, paper and textile in novel ways.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nLeendert Van Accoleyen (\u0026deg;1991) seems to be storming the world. Everything needs to go up into heights: heavy beams or stones, large blocks of polystyrene. Suspending slats are tied together with an extremely thin cord, oblique beams are tilted upwards with ropes. The objects have wheels in order to be able to move them. Large wheels of plaster, small rolling metal tubes. Homemade stoves produce a humming sound, whilst the upright planks which are feeding the fire are steadily and invisibly becoming shorter. The objects are being moved, dragged, lifted and brought to a state of temporary hovering. It seems nature is reflecting on itself and is using the artist to bring new constellations into being. Stunning. Luring us into breathless observation.\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nHans Theys, Montagne de Miel, October 10th 2018\u003cbr /\u003e\r\n\u003cbr /\u003e\r\nTranslated by Jacques\u003c/p\u003e\r\n"},{"locale":"es","short_description":"","description":""},{"locale":"el","short_description":"","description":""}],"actors":[]}