GHENT.- The ever-changing nature of human’s relationship to history makes us, as individuals, face a series of questions that urge us to reflect not only on ourselves but also as a collective. After all, one of the definitions of the term is ‘man in time’, coined by Marc Bloch in 1953, meaning that “history is the product of human action, creativity, invention, conflict, and interaction’. We are bound to make and shape our actions and narratives -whether conscious or unconscious- in an inescapable quest to make sense of it all. During this process, the initial intention to remain objective can derail any attempt to discover the underlying merits of mankind’s past. One might rightfully argue that the goal of absolute objectivity is merely impossible, so this should come as no surprise. Once we let go of this need, we can discover the various ways of interpreting, conceptualizing, and contextualizing the past.

Myths and the act of myth-creation are culturally ingrained in the methods of how humans understand and explain their surroundings. While taking a thorough look at this phenomenon it becomes clear that the connection between history, memory, and factuality is not necessarily essential. The creation of a third, non-existent narrative (in this case in the form of artworks) can carry the essence of any context just as well as a factual record. While the fragments of the story may be true, the point is not accuracy, it’s the message that needs to be delivered. A great example of this is Giorgo Vasary’s “Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects“, a collection of biographies re-telling the lives of significant artists up until and during the Renaissance. As of now, it is well known that the validity of these stories can be questioned, as far as their connection to reality goes, but the book is still considered to be an important source material due to its effectiveness in conveying the importance and influence the mentioned artists had.

Creating effective retrospective stories requires selectivity due to ‘historical reality’s infinite depth’, as said by Max Weber, so it's safe to say that the important element is choosing the right aspects to focus on. The selection process is of course, mostly dependent on the examiner's set of values and the given time’s current paradigms of historiology. The artworks featured in this exhibition present various attitudes when it comes to interpreting the past and present, highlighting objects’ capability to encapsulate and carry collective memories. By materializing historical narratives, they reinforce, critique, and reflect.

--Hanna Júlia Erdősi

ARTISTS & SPECIFIC WORKS

Lenny Vervaeke: Mythopoeic (Tempietto di San Pietro in Montorio, 2020-2024)
Lenny Vervaeke’s Mythopoeic transforms Bramante's iconic Tempietto di San Pietro in Montorio, a Renaissance martyrium in Rome, believed to mark the site of Saint Peter's crucifixion. This architectural masterpiece, constructed according to the golden ratio and Vitruvian principles, exemplifies the order and balance of the High Renaissance. In Vervaeke’s interpretation, the artist covers the exact 1:1 floor plan of the Tempietto with plaster tiles, obscuring the perfection of its proportions. As visitors walk over the tiles, their footsteps gradually reveal the underlying structure, echoing Bramante's subtle deviations from architectural perfection. Vervaeke explores the tension between historical narratives and the reality we perceive, exposing the fragility of history and the stories we choose to believe.

Marie Cloquet: Magnolia Series

Marie Cloquet delves into the metaphysical relationship between perception and reality. In her Magnolia Series, Cloquet draws on speculative metaphysics and neuroscientific insights, highlighting how reality reaches us in fragments. Her fascination with the magnolia tree serves as a metaphor for the subjective nature of perception. When Cloquet photographed the tree, she was struck by how the image captured far fewer flowers than her memory held. This dissonance between the overwhelming sensory experience and the objective photograph underscores how emotions and expectations shape our perception of the world. In her work, Cloquet emphasizes the emotional resonance of seeing, offering a vision that is not necessarily true to objective reality, but one that deeply reflects the emotional and interpretative nature of human experience.

Kasper Bosmans: Zinneke and Boy Butter

Kasper Bosmans uses storytelling to weave together elements from diverse cultural and historical contexts. His work often examines how traditions and symbols evolve in contemporary life through an intuitive anthropological lens.

In Zinneke (part of a larger installation), Bosmans takes inspiration from the river Senne, which once flowed through the site of Brussels’ Brucity Administrative Centre. The work reflects on discoveries made during archaeological excavations, including a 10th-century millstone and the remnants of a dog-racing track active until the 1950s. Bosmans created an abstract enamel dog track for Brucity's atriums, incorporating terrazzo elements that recall the millstone’s shape, with engraved representations of stray dogs, or "zinnekes." Once a term for stray dogs, "zinneke" now symbolizes the multicultural residents of Brussels, embodying the city’s diversity.

In Boy Butter, Bosmans engages with the history of butter smuggling in the Low Countries, a lucrative black market trade after World War II. Using the cire-perdue (lost wax) method, Bosmans cast blocks of bronze butter, placing them on hand-woven textiles that evoke the post-war smuggling era. By referencing both local folklore and the material’s sensuality, the title Boy Butter subtly alludes to intimate themes. This fusion of historical narrative with contemporary, even provocative, imagery reveals Bosmans’ ability to reframe masculine and romantic notions through art.

Nicolas Provost & Kasper Jordaens: The Mirror

Nicolas Provost is a Belgian visual artist, photographer, and filmmaker whose work blurs the boundaries between cinema and fine art. Drawing on the collective memory of cinematic imagery, Provost manipulates familiar visual codes, challenging the viewer's perceptions of time, narrative, and reality.

In The Mirror, Nicolas Provost joins forces with Kasper Jordaens to create a haunting commentary on the brutality of war. Using AI-generated images derived from text-to-image prompts, The Mirror reflects on the disturbing reality of humanitarian crises, particularly the impact on innocent children.