Elise Eeraerts

Website: www.elise-eeraerts.be

Eeraerts_Elise_Image1b

Mäntsälä (25th of May 2008), 2008, earth, 130 cm x 350 cm x 400 cm If an object is made with an unclear intention concerning its content, people might see nothing – or they see buildings, animals, objects from outer space (the future), temples (the past), small daily objects … in it. In the work Mäntsälä[video]

the participants of the project Mäntsälä speak about their ideas about the meaning of the object that was made together. The sculpture had been dug out of the earth in seven stages: in each stage a certain amount of earth was removed. The sculpture measures 150 cm x 300 cm x 400 cm. Its shape at excavation on 31st of May 2008, constitutes the first form in the continuity of plans and shapes.

Eeraerts_Elise_Image2b

SONY DSC

reflected directions (labyrinth), 2013, floor marking tape, 621 cm x 2317 cm (ca. 300 meter walk)reflected directions (labyrinth) is a walkable floor labyrinth in the main lobby of the North Station. The labyrinth has the shape of a compass needle tip which exactly points to a large compass rose on the wall of the same hall symbolising orientation. The labyrinth in contrast, requires a complex path. This reflects the tension between the intentions and expectations of travelers on the one hand, and the complicated tangle of railway station architecture and railway infrastructure on the other hand; basically, two different orientation logics. The shape of the labyrinth is based on a grid with two directions: that of the actual North-South connection, from station to station, and that of the north and south wind directions. The direction of the winds is shown as a continuous line, while the direction between the stations is determined by the beginning and end of the maze. By integrating the directions into the work an locating symmetrically the main station hall on it, the visitor is able to orient himself in a larger context.

Eeraerts_Elise_Image12b

tutorial (blocks), 2014, video, 8’19’’ The work tutorial (blocks) starts as an instructional video about how to make brick objects from clay-bearing soil from the site where the scene of the video takes place. Usually only the surfaces of the objects we see shape our knowledge and experience of materials and volumes. But the act of creating an object and therefore having knowledge of its core substance makes the manufacturer aware of its inside content and mass. In the video, the narrative of the tutorial turns when the laurel plant appears, and the objects move away from their position. When one of them is smashed to pieces, it seems to contain another smaller object inside. What lies beneath the surface of the place where the material was originally resourced are, instead of soil, the finished objects themselves. Towards its ending, the video resumes the tutorial format by showing the fire-hardening process of the objects, undergoing their final material transformation.

ARTIST STATEMENT
The totality of the works constitute a coherent whole through internal relationships and repetition. The system of processes consists of a duality of geometric ideas (shapes and plans) and physical objects that originate from these concepts. Unlike the shapes, the plans have a certain scale because architectural elements are inherent to them. In the beginning, the system
was first applied to two shapes that surfaced: ? ?. They generate new plans and shapes by the use of fragmentation and geometrical transformations, such as mirroring, rotation and scaling.
When formal concepts are transformed into physical objects, they obtain certain formal properties concerning scale, size, material, location and placement. By creating formal oppositions a field is constructed in which precise possibilities become substantial. On the one hand this implies infinite formality (concerning scale, size, material, location, and
placement), on the other hand, concrete objects and processes are extracted from this method. The processes and experiments that make a work specific and ‘existent’ create certain interpretations, expressive elements or even narratives within the work. It is not my intention to
point those out, but rather to look at the consequences of them.