EDITION II - BODEM
These grounds on which we walk – those accumulating layers of history, generously echoing past presences and forces – contain the stories we continue today. They are the fundaments, both material and immaterial, for the decisions we are to make, the steps we are to take. They teach us of prior times and cultures, they conceal and reveal, nourish and support. Towards this year’s presentation in Milan, BRUT chose Bodem(soil) as the theme of their second collective scenography and as a motive for the individual designs and concepts.
The dusty charm of an archaeological site – a context where (pre-)history, actuality and future findings meet – inspired the concept and appearances of the setting. With their earthly tones and textured surfaces, the separate plateaus and pedestals refer to the negative spaces which appear, when artefacts and architectural remains are gradually re-surfaced; an abstraction of an archetypical image that corresponds with how forgotten or lost things and memories are brushed back to light. To substantiate this inspiration BRUT studied Teseum in Tongres, Belgium’s oldest city, where the remains of a Roman settlement are being excavated. There, they also found the colours and rhythms which now define this scenography.
Soil, formed through and by time, introduces a state of mind, a mood which allows to talk about underlaying emotions, about transience and continuance, appearing and disappearing. Its intrinsic architecture – its sediments and formations, the layeredness of its constitution – reminds of both brute force and gentle evolution. The variety of its colours and textures, its surfaces and patterns, is endless and expressive.
This scenography initiates an atmosphere of contemplation and stillness, of devotion to matter and time. The organic, almost primitive design of the sculptural plateaus and pedestals – the architectural organization which communicates with the wider environment – guides the concentration and gaze of the spectator. The works he encounters are a combination of existing and new work, of realized and planned concepts. They embody four artistic practices which coincide in part – in this case, explicitly.
BRUT wishes to thank MAD Brussel, Flanders DC, The Flemish Government (Kunsten en Erfgoed) and Antoine Architectural Finishes for making this new collective chapter possible.
