projects

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LABORATORY FOR FORM AND MATTER

LABORATORY FOR FORM AND MATTER

name: the Laboratory for Form and Matter, project, year start: 2016, year end: ongoing, techniques: working with micro-organisms and organic matter, creating artworks with biochemistry, combinations of high end bioresearch with craft techniques, mixed media installations in the overlapping domain of art & science
The Laboratory for Form and Matter is a research project into artistic practices in the post-digital and post-media era. It is situated at the intersection of biology, ecology, technology and contemporary culture. The research is fed by my interest in bacteria as a medium for artistic expression and by a certain fascination for natural structures and...
BEE AGENCY

BEE AGENCY

name: the Bee Laboratory, project, year start: 2009, year end: ongoing, techniques: honeybee colonies, urban gardens, observation technology: sensors, contact microphones, webcams, streaming on open city network
The Bee Laboratory project monitors the behaviour of honeybees in urban surroundings.
 Beekeepers, scientists and artists examine the bee colonies in our rooftop gardens, our open air laboratories. We study the distributed intelligence of the honeybees : their behaviour, ecology and sociobiology. We monitor the bees and beehives with all kinds of eco-technology and we study the colony as a community. We research the interaction between the different c...
CONNECTED OPENGREENS

CONNECTED OPENGREENS

name: Connected OpenGreens, project, year start: 2008, year end: ongoing, techniques: urban gardens, local communities, bee colonies, communication technologies, observation technologies
Inspired by the flight routes of city honeybees and looking at where they are going and what they are bringing back, I am setting up the Connected OpenGreens project. I see Connected OpenGreens in urban environments as a new medium of social sculpture, a Gesamtkunstwerk that relies on the creative participation of many. Connected OpenGreens are ephemeral living structures in the form of green spaces connected through animal life, such as bee colonies. They...
SENSORIAL SKINS + WOVEN BY NATURE

SENSORIAL SKINS + WOVEN BY NATURE

  SENSORIAL SKINS + WOVEN BY NATURE is een tweedelige tentoonstelling die doorgaat bij PILAR (huis voor kunst en wetenschap, VUB) en bij iMAL (Internationaal Centrum voor Kunst en Wetenschap in Brussel). De twee tentoonstellingen tonen complementair werk waarin de samenwerking tussen micro-organismen en mensen centraal staan.
ALGAE RESEARCH

ALGAE RESEARCH

name: Algae Research, year start: 2019, year end: 2021, techniques: study of micro¯o algae, (cyano)bacteria and Lichen in the Venetian Lagoon, the Adriatic Sea and the North Sea ; focus on observing biodiversity and monitoring of climate change processes, R&D of new materials, natural pigments
This research project is in line with my previous work that combines art and science to reconnect people with living nature. I want to stimulate wonder, respect, and care for living beings so that humanity as a whole refocuses its life styles on creating a sustainable world
SENSORIAL SKIN: L'Origine du Monde

SENSORIAL SKIN: L'Origine du Monde

name: L'Origine du Monde, year start: 2019, year end: 2020, techniques: study of a cyanobacterial biofilm as a Sensorial Skin ; pollution sensor, green monitoring technology, resulting in a mixed media installation / overlapping domain of art & science
1. The project It is by now well accepted that the ecosystem that sustains our human life is under great threat. One of the threats is the survival of the honeybee on which we crucially depend for pollination. My long-term Intelligent Beehive project researches sustainable solutions on the edge of art and science. Its goal is a double one. The inside of this bespoke beehive [Fig.1] offers...
WEAVING and New Materials

WEAVING and New Materials

name: Research on Weaving and New Materials, year start: 2019, year end: ongoing, techniques: weaving with organic materials: bioplastics, microbial skin, algae, plant fibers, ... ; R&D of new materials, natural pigments
Weaving is one of the oldest cultural techniques, older than agriculture and writing. Even in nomadic cultures, textiles ensure survival: they extend the function of the skin and make it mobile, by the garment as well as the wall which protect against wind and weather, but also regulate the exchange with the environment.
Sensorial Skin: ANABAENA

Sensorial Skin: ANABAENA

name: Sensorial Skin - Anabaena, project, year start: 2019, year end: ongoing, techniques: working with micro-organisms and organic matter as algae, lichen and radiolaria; creating artworks with biochemistry; combinations of high end bioresearch with craft techniques and digital media; mixed media installations in the overlapping domain of art & science
De installatie 'L'Origine du Monde' (werktitel Anabaena) brengt een artistieke en esthetische visie op het proces dat aan de grondslag ligt van het leven op aarde, nl. fotosynthese door algen en de daarbijhorende productie van zuurstof, waardoor ons universum veranderde van een zuurstofarm naar een zuurstofrijk ecosysteem en daardoor de evolutie volop in gang zette.
GENESIS of a MICROBIAL SKIN

GENESIS of a MICROBIAL SKIN

name: Genesis of a Microbial Skin, year start: 2016, year end: 2017, techniques: bacteria and yeast cells; Acetobacter xylinum, Lactobacillus plantarum, Deinococcus radiophilus, living bee colonies, electronics ; resulting are mixed media installations in the overlapping domain of art & science
'Close reading of the Genesis of a Microbial Skin' gives a condensed overview of my notes (related to the research on Intelligent Beehives and with a focus on smart materials, e.g. microbial skin) between 2012 to 2017. The project is about growing Intelligent Guerilla Beehives from scratch, with living materials - as nature does. Biomimesis is used as a starting point...
THE INTELLIGENT GUERRILLA BEEHIVE

THE INTELLIGENT GUERRILLA BEEHIVE

name: The Intelligent Guerilla Beehive, project, year start: 2016, year end: ongoing, techniques: working with micro-organisms and organic matter, creating artworks with biochemistry, combinations of high end bioresearch with craft techniques and digital media; mixed media installations in the overlapping domain of art & science
abstract: The Intelligent Guerilla Beehive is a research project on the edge of art and science. It evokes issues of sustainability and biodiversity, giving viewers an artistic experience of my ongoing research related to the disappearance of the honeybee. The goal of the Intelligent Beehive is a double one. At one...
THE SOUND BEEHIVE EXPERIMENT

THE SOUND BEEHIVE EXPERIMENT

name: The Sound Beehive Experiment, project, year start: 2013 year end: 2015, techniques: working with micro-organisms and organic matter, customized observation device; green technology; electronics; mixed media installations in the overlapping domain of art & science
The Sound Beehive Experiment monitors the development of a bee colony on the basis of the sounds it generates. For this purpose, we developed a beehive that is equipped with sensors, microphones and cameras. We made sure that this equipment is not hindering the bees in their daily action. The Sound Beehive is installed in our field laboratory on a rooftop in the Brussels city centre.
the TRANSPARENT BEEHIVE

the TRANSPARENT BEEHIVE

name: the Transparent Beehive, sculpture, year start: 2013, year end: ongoing, techniques: honeybee colony, plexiglass, wood, steel, sensors, microphones, webcams and streaming technology, realtime audio, data processing, size of the work: 175cm (H) x 95cm (W) x 75cm (D)
The Transparent Beehive is a living sculpture in the form of an observation beehive made from plexiglass, wood, aluminium and steel. Inside is a living bee colony that has access to the outside world through a plexiglass pipe. The Transparent Beehive was installed for the first time on a Brussels rooftop connected to an urban garden laboratory and has since been shown...
BEE AGENCY: the VARIATION GAMES

BEE AGENCY: the VARIATION GAMES

name: 'The Variation Games' year start: 2017, year end: 2018, techniques: video; an artistic edit of the material gathered during the B-observation years; video, audio, sensor data, SEM micrographs, Infra-red photography; living bee colonies, bacteria and organic matter; part of mixed media installation
Agency is the capacity of an actor to act in a given environment. Variation Games are games where the set of rules is constantly adapted by the players. De film Variation Games is gemaakt vanuit een ethologisch standpunt. Een tiental jaren observeerde ik de gedragingen van bijenkolonies ‘bottom-up’ doo...

POLITICS OF CHANGE

POLITICS OF CHANGE

name: politics of change (poc), project, year start: 2007, year end: 2010, techniques: local communities, international networks, sustainable solutions
Politics of Change (PoC) is an artistic researchproject that documents the contribution of small communities to the construction of a more balanced society. POC is a collective work where artists, activists and ecologists, economists, educators and anthropologists want to initiate collaborative dialogues to research ideas and solutions which support decentralised structures, diversity and community development. The project involves not only public discussion, but an extensive mapping and documentation of these...
NO2PHO - FROM NOISE TO VOICE

NO2PHO - FROM NOISE TO VOICE

name: No2Pho, project, year start: 2005, year end: 2007, techniques: interactive sound installation, public participation, max msp, crickets networked microcontrollers
No2Pho -from noise to voice and from voice to music- is an artistic research project investigating the behaviour of language in its many appearances: textual, sonic and visual, as well as gestural or body language. How do these disparate elements relate to each other and how do they organize within a system which includes human and computer as a sender and a receiver [and vice versa]? As a generative sound installation No2Pho plays with a connected set of elements. It is composed of dissonant...
ESSENTIAL EMPTINESS, CONTINUOUS PRESENT

ESSENTIAL EMPTINESS, CONTINUOUS PRESENT

name: essential emptiness, project, year start: 2002, year end: 2004, techniques: collaborations, public participation, networked stories with self portraits
Peopledatabase/essential-emptiness is een multimedia project met een focus op representatie. Vijf vrouwelijke videokunstenaars worden uitgenodigd een audiovisueel zelfportret te realiseren. De portretten maken deel uit van een interactieve installatie. De theoretische 'constructie' van een identiteit wordt in vraag gesteld door middel van een technische audiovisuele 'deconstructie'. De analoge video-zelfportretten vormen de basis voor een digitale verwerking waarin tijd, ruimte en publiek de variabelen...
PEOPLE DATABASE

PEOPLE DATABASE

name: the People Database Archive, project, year start: 1998, year end: 2008, techniques: found footage, public participation, online database, networked stories
The People Database archive is considered as a meeting place for discourse, ideas and action. The leading thread is the collection of passport photographs. Used as a mirror, they provoke an answer given by artists, philosophers, musicians, writers and other interested participants. The site of Thurn & Taxis, in the context of the exhibition Here & Now, lends itself perfectly as a social structure for this cultural exchange. The archive-in-residence will call into question an interdisciplinary investigation...