A CONVERSATION with Kristof Van Gestel: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 21:50, 23 November 2015

WELCOME FOR A CONVERSATION! WHAT IS A CONVERSATION? at http://www.playgroundfestival.be/en/program/welcome-conversation-what-conversation

"Kristof Van Gestel invites you for an individual talk, through his artworks. Some ten sculptures/objects form the base of an exploration of form, content, interpretation, perception and use of art. The starting point is the way the audience responds to the artworks and the way the artist responds to the audience. By turning audience members into active participants, he provokes experiences that are close to life."

This artwork is part of: Knowing by Doing, a platform for research on participative art projects and experience-oriented workshops that was founded by Van Gestel based on his own practice.

before

after

I arrived at the empty room with only few objects gathered in one corner and was asked to display them all over the room, as I wanted to. First I was getting familiar with the different shapes, wondering where did they belong? And started by asking simple questions about the objects. The conversation evolved and then the artist would start asking me why I was choosing particular objects and also why to choose such disposition in space.

At some point the conversation went towards the method used by Kristof, his interest in phenomenology and the structures of experience, into a reflection on

DETERMINISM <> CHANCE

Chance arouses from something which is only determined only up to a certain extent. In this case, and from the artist's perspective, determinism was given by his choices when defining the rules for the experience as well as the objects to be integrated, whilst chance belonged to the visitor who would give continuation to the artwork.

The objects worked as points of contact between the Artist and the Audience, creating an environment for an embodied experience and for communication (the actual conversation). New stories, new meanings emerge out of those objects, within that space.

This experience made me think of how the interplay between determinism and chance may lead to an "ecology of creativity".

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 [[File:IMG_20151122_144727.jpg|650px|thumb|left|before]]
+[[File:IMG_20151122_144450.jpg|650px|thumb|left|after]]
 I arrived at the empty room with only few objects gathered in one corner and was asked to display them all over the room, as I wanted to.
+First I was getting familiar with the different shapes, wondering where did they belong? And started by asking simple questions about the objects.
+The conversation evolved and then the artist would start asking me why I was choosing particular objects and also why to choose such disposition in space.
+At some point the conversation went towards the method used by Kristof, his interest in phenomenology and the structures of experience, into a reflection on
 DETERMINISM <> CHANCE
-Chance arouses from something determined only up to a certain extent.
+Chance arouses from something which is only determined only up to a certain extent. In this case, and from the artist's perspective, determinism was given by his choices when defining the rules for the experience as well as the objects to be integrated, whilst chance belonged to the visitor who would give continuation to the artwork.
-In this case determinism was give by the choices of the artist when defining the rules for the experience as well as the objects to be integrated, whilst chance belonged to the visitor who would
+The objects worked as points of contact between the Artist and the Audience, creating an environment for an embodied experience and for communication (the actual conversation). New stories, new meanings emerge out of those objects, within that space.
-phenomenological experiences of the environment embodiment and communication
-new stories emerge. objects as points of contact and transformation
-body as situated knowledge: the body as a site of knowledge, as an accretion of understanding a practice where meaning intersects with the world.
 This experience made me think of how the interplay between determinism and chance may lead to an "ecology of creativity".
-While moving the objects from one place to another, I started asking Kristof what were those objects,
-[[File:IMG_20151122_144450.jpg|650px|thumb|left|after]]
 [[File:IMG_20151122_144459.jpg|300px|detail]]