M a s t e rP h o t o g r a p h y

E X H I B I T I O N

LUCA School of ArtsS i n t - L u k a s B r u s s e l

Angel de la RubiaDiana TamaneBastiaan van AarleMarie-Charlot Vleminckx

Paleizenstraat / Rue des Palais 70

1.0 km 11 min

Station Brussel Noord / Gare Bruxelles Nord

230 m 2 min

T A G c i t y

Karel Rogier Passage/ Place Charles Roger

L A Y - O U TMarie-Charlot Vleminckx

Introduction Liesbeth Decan

I. The Sky under Franco Angel de la Rubia

II. You can’t have me for real Diana Tamane

III. Waterlijn Bastiaan van Aarle

IV. Groeten uit de vallei (Greetings from the Valley) Marie-Charlot Vleminckx

I N D E X

I N T R O D U C T I O NLiesbeth Decan

Four young artists exhibit together in TAG City in Brussels. Their work is very disparate, yet what they have in common is a fresh, authentic search for ways to deal with reality, their surroundings, their pasts, presents and even futures, particular-ly through the medium of photography.

In the work of Angel de la Rubia memory is the basic concept. By means of various media—drawings, castings, archival documents, family pictures as well as photographs taken by him-self—he examines how his personal family histo-ry is interwoven with the political history of his native country, Spain. Special emphasis is laid on what role photographs play in the transmission of these histories, on how photography both in-cites and limits our memory of events.

Also in the work of Diana Tamane photography is a means to remember, as well as to accept and understand pieces of life—her life, but maybe yours too. Colorful pictures conduct the viewer on a poetic journey through the everyday, guided as well by the artist’s voice telling personal stories that animate and connect the pictures. Through the loose associations between the images and the spoken narrative Tamane indicates in a de- licate way the human search for a comforting place in the world.

Fascinated by environmental science, Bastiaan van Aarle did a photographic project depart-ing from the proposition that, if all ice on earth would melt, the sea level would be situated about 65 meters higher than it is nowadays. By combin-ing black-and-white landscape photographs with a line, which is drawn on the glass that protects the picture and which indicates the prospective sea level, he brings this disastrous futuristic view to the viewer’s attention.

To Marie-Charlot Vleminckx the landscape -often referred to by her as ‘het schone land’ (the beautiful land) - is a platform to execute simple but very precise acts. Packed with some careful-ly selected tools (like a saw, a knife, a tripod, a camera) she takes a walk, chooses a spot that is suitable for the action she has in mind (for exam-ple, sawing a piece of wood off a tree-stump), and finally performs the act. Transported to the gallery space by means of pho-tographs and video recordings, the ‘useless act’ becomes meaningful as it communicates about an uncommon simplicity and concentration.

Without any doubt each of these four projects, which were developed in the Master Photogra-phy at LUCA School of Arts – Campus Sint-Lu-kas Brussel, embodies the beginning of a bur-geoning oeuvre that will surprise us with many more insights into our daily environment and the world outside.

Liesbeth DecanBrussels, June 2014

Angel de la RubiaSpain, 1981

The Sky under Franco

T U T O R S Els OpsomerMarie-Pascale Gildemyn

‘The Bureau of Exile’ Mixed Media, variable dimensions

My work takes foundation on documentary pho-tography and its nature of trace and visual wit-ness to events. I incorporate other elements such as drawing or text, in order to expand my poetic and communicative possibilities; and the purpose is always one, even if the subjects are multiple. By examining the aftermath and present of the wars in the ex-Yugoslavia, the afterlife of monuments in post-soviet Europe or the articulation of my own family’s story within the recent history of Spain, I question constantly the relationship of the individual and its historical context.

The works here presented are my three most re-cent formalizations of an ongoing concern and research about unresolved issues of the recent past that haunt my country today. Democracy was re-established in Spain in 1978, but four de-cades of authoritarian dictatorship, and the Civil War preceded it, left deep wounds in a yet divid-ed society that the Transitional process could not or did not want to fully satisfy. Years have passed, but some of these ghosts have not been re-exam-ined or rendered justice.

In the installation “To kill the one who fishes in calm waters” I disclose a relatively unknown episode of Francoism: the daring and unaccom-plished attempt at killing the Dictator from a small plane flying from France to San Sebastian. This is my homage to Laureano Cerrada, an an-archist revolutionary that after fighting in the French Resistance devoted his life restlessly to modify the course of Spanish History.

“13.383 days of Dictatorship” is a reflection on what a family album cannot show. These witness-es of intimate life and celebrations can only give us subtle clues about the historical context that determine them through its constrictions, mor-als and silences.

“The Bureau of Exile” is a poetic approximation at the displaced and problematic notion of be-longing that defines the condition of exile. Approximately 220.000 people, half of the initial refugees from the Spanish Civil War, established themselves permanently in foreign countries, and many others would join until 1975. Under these circumstances, I imagine a topography of the homeland as being only possibly described by a wall crack.

“Personal attacks are effective to the extent that the victim monopolizes powers. Killing a consti-tutional king through a plot and not through a revolution does not change anything except for his heir. But if someone had eliminated Hitler in 1939, who could say that his death would not have been good for Europe? When we tried to as-sassinate Franco in 1948 we were convinced that we would have completely changed the History of Spain. At that time Franco had not yet man-aged to legitimize his system”Laureano Cerrada

‘To Kill the one who Fishes in Calm Waters’ Mixed media, variable dimensions.

Diana TamaneLatvia, 1986

You can’t have me for real

T U T O R SAna TorfsMaarten Vanvolsem

Excerpts from the video:

A foreign body arriving to a new city, it did not seem to exist. And then, little by little, as a devel-oping photograph, becoming part of something, belonging once again.

From day to day walking the same streets, look-ing for references, looking for water. Her stories were condensed at the bottom of river, they were moving smoothly, transforming with flow. Water was fluid and blue, cold and transparent, wavy and deep, but also reflecting. On the surface, she saw reflections of memory, but it wasn’t her memory, it was someone else’s.

[...]

It is almost like a non-place, it is a bit like every-where, a bit like Paris, a bit like Berlin, a bit like Istanbul, but it is like nowhere.

Wandering between those spaces she dissolves. You said attachment, but attachment to what?

She would prefer to keep a distance.

We have one-hour difference, but you know it al-ready.

[...]

In those days it was rainy in Riga. They said 54 peo-ple died. They said the roof caved in at 17:41 local time. The collapse occurred during peak shopping hours. Eyewitnesses said the roof collapsed over the checkout counters, where many people were waiting to pay.

Did you forget? Keys? Mobile? Camera? PIN code? To write an e-mail? Your promise? Your future?

The European Union must demonstrate convinc-ingly that is important to us, and what values we stand for, he said.

[...]

In the park she would look for green, she would take a picture of green almost with anger. It was one of the cities where she used to live while waiting for spring.

[...]

Skin, skin, flesh, skin, flesh, flesh, skin as an in-formation gathering device. How often have you heard “You can’t have me for real”?

[...]

The planes are floating slowly dividing the sky into a tic-tac-toe, nevertheless the sound accom-panying them moves quickly enough (343 m/sec.) chasing and overtaking her in her daily rou-tine. She doesn’t like planes. She prefers to stay on her own feet.

One day looking for new roads she get lost in google maps never finding her way back.

Bastiaan van AarleBelgium, 1988

Waterlijn

T U T O R SFrank UyttenhoveSteven Humblet

The steady rise of the sea level is an often-reoc-curring subject in our society. We hear about it on the radio, read about it in the newspaper or magazines and see documentaries of it on tele-vision. These representations of what is going to happen always look far away from us. If it already happens, than it happens at the North or South Pole, but definitely not in Belgium.

The project “Waterlijn” (Waterline) wants to change this. It brings the subject to the Belgians. What is going to happen to Belgium when al the ice around the world would melt? Scientists say that the sea level would rise with 65 meters or to say it differently: half of Belgium would be under water. This drastic rise however is currently not visible. It is a n idea of the future that has not yet been fulfilled. Hence, we cannot photograph it.

This search of representing a future in photo-graphs lead to the use of a line, which is drawn on the glass of the frame and represents the sea level. This artificial element in the image does not only represent the sea level but also has another purpose. It plays with the idea of the reality factor of images. Images work on the thin line between reality and fantasy. It represents reality but it ex-cludes elements like sound, or the surroundings, which we (the viewers) have to fill in with our fantasy. By adding this line, I guide the viewer to imagine something specific within the image. The landscape transforms by using their mind.

Marie-Charlot VleminckxBelgium, 1991

Groeten uit de vallei (Greetings from the Valley)

T U T O R S Aglaia KonradLiesbeth Decan

When I come to the path, I take a right towards the val-ley. Here it is more quiet, but also colder. I hear horses grazing in a meadow along the path. A bit further, I will reach the piece of land I want to call mine.

I climb a rock, which reflects the morning sun. I know I’m almost there.

Besides the very impressive landscape, there is nothing much to see. The sound of the horses is replaced by the sound of water coming from the valley, although I can’t see it.

The images I make, are used as documents. Small ac-tions or interventions with found materials and man-made constructions are filmed and photographed. The settings are mostly well chosen spots in nature, which also play a special role throughout my work.

Video, a new medium for me, is often used for screen-shots afterwards. This way I can concentrate on the act of making, without having to think about the pic-tured result. The actions that I portray are mostly use-less but they are carried out with such care and con-centration that they become valuable for a moment.At the same time they reflect a certain kind of atmo-sphere, which in my eyes can refer to a nomadic way of living.

In contrast to the videos, which demonstrate the act of making, the pictures merely show the raw material.

Before I leave home, I always make a small list of things I have to take with me. On the one hand in order not to forget anything and on the other hand to define the piece of land and the action.

materiaal mei 2014

nagels hamer statief camera videocamera

These small lists are part of the process, the process of making, which leads to the depicted shapes and objects and which constitutes the actual work.

When I return to the village I come across the horses again, where a man is sitting in his car. I say hello and I feel he is still looking at me when I walk away. He is probably wondering where I’m coming from so early in the morning.

Maybe it was his piece of land.

materiaal januari 2014

zaag zakmes statief camera I camera II videocamera

Master Photography2013 - 2014

LUCA School of Arts - Campus Sint-Lukas Brussel

T U T O R S

Els Opsomer (Coördinator)Liesbeth DecanMarie-Pascale GildemynSteven HumbletAglaia KonradAna TorfsFrank UyttenhoveMaarten Vanvolsem

S T U D I O V I S I T S - L E C T U R E S - P O R T F O L I O V I E W I N G S b y:

Mieke Bleyen (Art Historian, KU Leuven)Dirk Braeckman (Artist)Koen Brams & Dirk Pültau (De Witte Raaf)Adam Broomberg & Oliver Chanarin (Artists)Xavier Canonne (Director Musée de la Photographie, Charleroi)Eric Dupont (Galerie Eric Dupont, Paris)Daniella Géo (Curator)Martin Germann (Curator SMAK, Ghent)David Heilbich (Artist)Helena Kritis (Curator Beursschouwburg)Ulrich Loock (Art Historian, Curator)Jan Mot (Jan Mot Gallery)Joachim Naudts (Curator FoMu, Antwerp)Thomas Ruff (Artist)Erik van der Weijde (Artist)Els Van Riel (Artist)

J U R Y - 18th of June 2014

Philip Aguirre y Otegui (Artist)Martin Germann (Curator SMAK)Tina Schulz (Artist, Writer)

O N T W E R P P O S T E RMaud Van Haegenborgh & Marie-Charlot Vleminckx