From October 13, 2017 until January 7, 2018 Fake Calligraphy is part of „Something Stronger Than Me*“, WIELS Contemporary Art Centre, Brussels. More info and subscriptions >HERE
Fake Calligraphy - Wiels, Third Stage, 2017, Batik with natural dyes on cotton, aluminum, stainless steel, Mortar boxes, Dimensions variable (1 frame is 230 x 170 x 2,5 cm).
Fake Calligraphy is a sculpture inspired by the calligraphic batik, Batik Besurek, a tradition from Bengkulu (Indonesia). Batik Besurek, originally conceived by Indonesian Muslims, is derived from the Arab script but the signs are not always readable as such. The Fake Calligraphy sculpture presented at WIELS is inspired by those calligraphic batiks that are playing with the aesthetics of a written language abstracted from its original meaning. The sculpture is made so that it can be activated, reminiscent of a workshop, where it serves as an environment to create a new interpretation of calligraphic batiks. In this sculpture different stages of batik production such as creating a design, transferring it in wax on textile and dyeing with natural dyes are used as a means of communication that goes beyond language barriers. Fake Calligraphyaims to be a platform for exchange of speech, body language and the sharing of different cultural knowledge in an artistic and social context.
Fake Calligraphy is Manoeuvre, collectieve for art in co-creation, Maartje Fliervoet, Ada Van Hoorebeke, as well as participants.
The activation of Fake Calligraphy in Wiels was spread over three clusters of three days, wherepeople could join us to a 1,45 minute shift in the creation process of calligraphic batik. This all took place inside the exhibition space.
The work 'Guide Rails' by Rita McBride was used as a very long working table to draw fake calligraphic signs in pencil and batik wax. The metal frame of the Fake Calligraphy sculpture was used as a drying rack in the activation process of dyeing and displaying Fake Calligraphy.
Below you can see the process of Fake Calligraphy as it was activated during the exhibition Something Stronger Than Me* in WIELS contemporary Arts Centre Brussels, together with participants:
Lázara Rosell Albear, Sultan Altintas, Lysiane Ambrosino, Gonül Atec, Zubeyde Balci, Devrim Bayar, Safa Benlazreg, Sabine Bolk, Laurence Bontems, Fran Bombeke, Antje Bots, Eloi Boucher, Aline Bouvy, Cécile Chainiaux, Laura Caroen, Ema Sec, Fadime Çetinkaya, Jorine Ceulemans, Myriam Cherroud, Louis Claus, Rony Codoychum, Sarah Crimi, Fabrice Dehaeseleer, Laura De Jaeger, Ella De Lestré, Mado De Lestré, Linh Dong, Dany Druylans, Paulina De Vleeschouwer, Gustav De Vriese, Simen Eeckhout, Nienke French, Emilie Forey, Charlotte Gérard, Marilou Gillis, Ikram Haltout, Maaike Haverals, ArianeHeystraeten, Henri Jacobs, Yasmine Jai, Inge Janssens, Luna Kindler, Louis Kiock, Rahime Koparan, ZeynepKubat, Blanche Lafarge, Lucie Lambrecht, Gitte Le Bruyn, Feng Li, Jan Leconte, Ash Lee, Camilia Lovegrove, Katja Mater, Remi Mercelis, Viviane Michels, Roberta Miss, Anaïck Moriceau, Evelyne Morlot, Benjamin Navet, Asia Mireille Nyembo, Winde Nulens, Clara Perilla, Christophe Piette, Thijs Polfliet, Sophie Rocca, Dominique Ringler, Livia Tarsia, Nele Tas, Nina Terhalle, Marte Van Dessel, Eva Van Deuren, Gyulseren Van Dort, Charlotte Van Dorpe, Marjorie Vandriessche, Anaïs Van Hoorebeke, Lea Vayrou, Selma Verbert, Lora Verheecke, Sabine Vermeiren, Frédérique Versaen, Aïda Versnich, Miljan Vukićević, Kato Six, Ismahan Yildirim, Hediye Yigit Sahin, Sanyiee Yuksel, Tonio di Zinno
Lázara Rosell Albear, Sultan Altintas, Lysiane Ambrosino, Gonül Atec, Zubeyde Balci, Devrim Bayar, Safa Benlazreg, Sabine Bolk, Laurence Bontems, Fran Bombeke, Antje Bots, Eloi Boucher, Aline Bouvy, Cécile Chainiaux, Laura Caroen, Ema Sec, Fadime Çetinkaya, Jorine Ceulemans, Myriam Cherroud, Louis Claus, Rony Codoychum, Sarah Crimi, Fabrice Dehaeseleer, Laura De Jaeger, Ella De Lestré, Mado De Lestré, Linh Dong, Dany Druylans, Paulina De Vleeschouwer, Gustav De Vriese, Simen Eeckhout, Nienke French, Emilie Forey, Charlotte Gérard, Marilou Gillis, Ikram Haltout, Maaike Haverals, ArianeHeystraeten, Henri Jacobs, Yasmine Jai, Inge Janssens, Luna Kindler, Louis Kiock, Rahime Koparan, ZeynepKubat, Blanche Lafarge, Lucie Lambrecht, Gitte Le Bruyn, Feng Li, Jan Leconte, Ash Lee, Camilia Lovegrove, Katja Mater, Remi Mercelis, Viviane Michels, Roberta Miss, Anaïck Moriceau, Evelyne Morlot, Benjamin Navet, Asia Mireille Nyembo, Winde Nulens, Clara Perilla, Christophe Piette, Thijs Polfliet, Sophie Rocca, Dominique Ringler, Livia Tarsia, Nele Tas, Nina Terhalle, Marte Van Dessel, Eva Van Deuren, Gyulseren Van Dort, Charlotte Van Dorpe, Marjorie Vandriessche, Anaïs Van Hoorebeke, Lea Vayrou, Selma Verbert, Lora Verheecke, Sabine Vermeiren, Frédérique Versaen, Aïda Versnich, Miljan Vukićević, Kato Six, Ismahan Yildirim, Hediye Yigit Sahin, Sanyiee Yuksel, Tonio di Zinno
Session 1
FAKE CALLIGRAPHY activation in WIELS
13, 14 and 15.10.2017
Manoeuvre / Maartje Fliervoet / Ada Van Hoorebeke / Participants
Fake Calligraphy - Wiels, First Stage, 2017, Batik with natural dyes on cotton, aluminum, stainless steel, Mortar boxes, Dimensions variable (1 frame is 230 x 170 x 2,5 cm).
Here you can see how we dyed samples for a fake calligraphic writing after spontaneously inventing and drawing signs in wax. This is the first stage in the activation of the piece called Fake Calligraphy.
Session 2
FAKE CALLIGRAPHY activation in WIELS
16, 17 and 18.11.2017
Manoeuvre / Maartje Fliervoet / Ada Van Hoorebeke / Participants
Fake Calligraphy - Wiels, Second Stage (detail) 2017
In the second session the samples of fake calligraphic writing which were developed during the first session, were traced on chalk paper, cut out and assembled into 'sentences'. Those sentences were then traced with pencil on long strips of cotton. The cotton strips were placed in the sculpture and hung there, ready to be traced in wax and dyed during the third and last session.
(Photo´s by Maartje Fliervoet & Chris Rotsaert)
Session 3
FAKE CALLIGRAPHY activation in WIELS
14, 15 and 16.12.2017
Manoeuvre / Maartje Fliervoet / Ada Van Hoorebeke / Participants
In the third and last session of 3 days we traced all the pencil designs in wax, then dyed them first in an oak gall solution and then in a mix of oak gall and rust to obtain darker colours. For the rust solution we used scrap iron collected earlier on the parking lot of Wiels. The last session ends with boiling out wax and ironing the pieces. After cleaning up the dye pots and the frames of the sculpture, the fake calligraphic batik can be arranged in the sculpture. we ended up with 13 long stripes of Fake Calligraphic Batik.
(Photo´s by Ada Van Hoorebeke)
Below:FAKE CALLIGRAPHY - Prototype, 2017, Manoeuvre kunstenplek / Maartje Fliervoet / Ada Van Hoorebeke.
 |
| Fake Calligraphy - Prototype, 2017, Batik with natural dyes on cotton, aluminum, stainless steel, Mortar boxes, Dimensions variable (1 frame is 230 x 170 x 2,5 cm). |
This is a prototype for Fake Calligraphy made in collaboration with Manoeuvre collective for art in co-creation and Maartje Fliervoet. Ghent, 2016-2017.
(Photo´s by Ernst Maréchal)