45.
Tactical Transparency
Keteleer Gallery, Antwerp (BE)
2018
"For this exhibition Van Wolputte is showing what appear to be found constructions but are actually newly made ‘decors’. He white-washes the windows of greenhouses as has been done for decades to the windows of empty stores to keep out the gaze of passers-by. It’s almost as if there’s a great shame to the inactive building, not unlike the shame of the unemployed citizen. Inside the greenhouses we find examples of what could be the artist’s workplace, the traces of his process. But they aren’t, they’re staged. And we are left wondering how much is a story and how much this matters.
Van Wolputte too, doesn’t tell the whole story. He won’t give us a clear view of what lies behind his practice and plays a dubious game of uncovering and hiding, colliding the past with the present, claiming no new truths but turning old ones inside out."
44.
Linked Surfaces
LLS387, Antwerp (BE)
2017
For his solo show in hometown Antwerp, Philippe Van Wolputte (°1982) has created a large installation consisting of two parts, following the architecture of LLS 387. Upon entering the exhibition space, visitors suddenly find themselves in a dazzlingly white surrounding composed of styrofoam and held together by mint green polyurethane foam and metal stakes. This makeshift faux-ice landscape fills the room all the way up to the ceiling and covers the floor with powdery snow-like remains — all traces of a bold yet playful sculptural gesture. We notice several antennas sticking out of the foam, connected by black electric wires leading to a radio sender/receiver and modular synth in the back of the exhibition space. This brightly lit environment — overexposed, as it were — stands in stark contrast with the dark and gloomy installations that characterize Van Wolputte's earlier practice....
43.
Short Time Stay
site specific intervention
KuMu, Tallin (EST)
2016
Recent years showed how governements and media deal with the problematics of migration. After temporary camps get build, the media comes with stories from within the camps and the result it has on the surrounding areas. With this info the governement has a fabricated reason for demolishing the camps within weeks.
Short Time Stay are a series of site specific installations which were build in the surroundings of KuMu Tallin an dthe Citadel of Diest (BE) that deal with this situation.
42.
Tear Out - Bash (2016)
installation
Artenova, Mechelen (BE)
2016
Tear Out - Bash is the first in a series of works that present various ways to use our surroundings in order to get the message out.
41.
Behind The Lines: Temporary Penetrable Exhibition Spaces 2005-15
installation, collages
MuHKA, Antwerp (BE)
2015
Temporary Penetrable Exhibition Space (T.P.E.S.) is a long-term project that spans over a decade, consisting of various site-specific interventions in the public or semi-public space. The majority of these temporary, ephemeral actions are clandestine or illegal, and have therefore gone unnoticed by many visitors or passers-by. By deliberately blurring the lines between fact and fiction, between genuine and fake, Philippe Van Wolputte creates situations where production and documentation become mutually implicated. As such, they reflect the complicated way in which we use archive material as an access point to invoke a bygone art historical reality, thus often mythologizing its nature.
Where does the work begin or end; what are its boundaries? Did the interventions actually take place or are they carefully staged? Are we even able to tell the difference? Can we still 'visit' these historical sites retrospectively, and how does the urban memory work?
40.
Fade-Outs
installation, collages
Be-Part / Bruthaus, Waregem (BE)
2015
'FADE-OUTS' points at the images in the memory of the artist. Images of locations visited and lost. Mental imprints that wane and fade out, just like the places themselves. That is the reason why the artist wants to re-create them. He holds on to the images in an attempt to mourn. Van Wolputte tries to revisit these lost refuges and draw the public's attention to them.
Van Wolputte built an installion using a mixture of tunnels and corridors he previously discovered and explored. It is deliberately assembled in a naive way, with a DIY-aesthetic. Quickly crafted together, helter skelter like the barricades left behind after a demo that got out of hand; an improvised camp made from stuff left behind at the spot.
Van Wolputte toys with the relics of previously visited tunnels: signposts of urban explorers in the catacombs of Paris, scaffolding left behind by construction workers at unfinished and derelict city developments...
39.
Misfits
installation, collages
Levy Deval, Brussels (BE)
2014
For 'Misfits' Van Wolputte integrates the pillars of the galleries space into an installation depicting a post apocalyptic street scene, a view of the future loss. The aesthetic of the end of a certain time, the flyers and leaflets part of the installation are possible manuals on how to survive these moments.
The messages on the poles are from people who are ready to help or who look for help. It's a communication system for people who are outside of the system. It could be after a disaster, the humans would be misfits and communicate through those pieces of papers in the city. Just like announcement flyers from jobless people, or unheard cries for help in a riot, a message that didn't reach anyone, they fade away and the messages disappear as buildings are demolished.
38.
Looking Back While Walking Forward
various works
Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels (BE)
2013
What is left behind, left out, abandoned or forgotten is a constant source of inspiration for Philippe Van Wolputte. For the Prix de la Jeune Peinture in BOZAR, the artist decided to stage different characters in a kind of faux-documentary video, following their urban exploration moves from behind the lens. The video installation is presented in conjunction with a series of photographs. The characters seem to function as a kind of alter egos, creating an intriguing hide-and-seek between fiction and reality.
We might all be walking forward, being ruthlessly propelled into the future, but only some of us tend to remember what we are leaving behind.
37.
Inside, Outside, Outside
various works
Levy Delval, Brussels (BE)
2012
A collection of works representing the different stages of Asbestos.
The exhibition starts of with a photo collage part of a series of 12 different collages showing different types of asbestos minerals collected from different mines. On the right side of this collage is a representation of a cracked and crumbling wall, inside these cracks the wall forms white dust. Next, a selection of photo collages of products from the 50's-60's containing asbestos. A photo documenting a fictive intervention/performance with white dust, and finally a sculpture representing the way asbestos gets cleaned from various locations.
36.
From Up To Down
8m x 3m x 6m
Kunsthall Rotterdam (NL)
2012
From up to Down is a site-specific work made exclusively for Kunsthall Rotterdam. It is a recreation of a space that the artist discovered during his search for deserted places that were in danger of being demolished, renovated or forgotten. He has not cerated astage set, but rather a fleeting, naive interpretation of the space. The space is strongly reminiscent of a post-earthquake scene with its inherent danger of asbestos due to the friction of crumbling building materials. Van Wolputte has often referred to this fact in his work. The entrance is an enlargement of the entrance to the Stockage/Transmitter that he made at an earlier time for a show in Rotterdam.
35.
Used Since 1880
intervention
Error One, Antwerp (BE)
2012
An intervention at the old building of Studio Herman Teirlinck. The building was left abandonnd in 2010. In this time it became aware the building was infested with asbestos. The title "Used since 1880" refers to the date when asbestos was being used in the construction of buildings.
5 scrapings were done on the basement walls of the building.
34.
Glimpse From Below
6m x 1.2m x 1.2m
Art in the city, Art Brussels (BE)
2012
A sculpture made for Art in the City, an Outdoor sculpture exhibition in the Egmont Park, Brussels.
with the support of Elaine Levy Projects, Brussels
"He showed him the secret catch in the bottom of the trough, a nailhead that sprung the trapdoor. He showed him how he wriggled through the small aperture, down into a hiding place carved in the earth beneath them. The room, not much more than six feet long, was a two-nun observation post. Its windows were just below the crest of the hill and were a great deal older than the dugout itself. They had originally been rabbit holes, which is what they still looked like from outside, although they had been carefully glazed and were now weatherproof They gave a clear view across the valley for miles."
33.
Conserve Until Further Notice
intervention
Freestate II, Oostend (BE)
2011
An intervention at Vrijstaat O for the Exhibition Freestate II - Splendid Isolation. The work deals with the dangers of asbestos and its removal.
32.
Give off / Give out
video, 3'30", sound
Jakarta (ID)
2011
"Give off / Give out" documents an intervention in Jakarta Januari 5th 2011, dealing with the problems of fine dust after the demolition of buildings. Indonesia is the second biggest importer of asbestos which is extremely dangerous when inhaled. In the video you see a small team trying to prevent the fine dust, which carries asbestos in it, of spreading through the air by watering the site. This intervention gets repeated in different parts of the city.
31.
ÆTERNUS
7 prints
publication for Gagarin Magazine
2010
A collection of discussions regarding the dangers of asbestos, combined with quotes taken from
'70s commercials for asbestos tiles. Aeternus was made for Gagarin volume 11#1, alongside texts by François Curlet, Gonkar Gyatso, Rosa Barba, Jenny Holzer, Harun Farocki, Garzia Toderi and , Lia Perjovschi.
30.
Forlorn Hope
280 x 155 cm, xerox prints, tape collage
Zagreb (HR)
2010
A serie of 6 collages of interventions in Gornji Grad, Zagreb What is the future of Upper Town, the old city center of Zagreb, if its citizens aren't able to finance the renovation according to the socially insensitive system of monument taxation? Is using radical methods one of the possible scenarios for the frustrated citizens lacking a solution? Tenants who can't renovate their living spaces through methods prescribed by law set fires to them to get rid of the real estate which is expensive to maintain, but still keep the land where it was built. Are such radical methods a possible future for Upper Town? Those are the questions asked by the piece Forlorn hope through its interventions into the public space, inspired by many fires of Upper Town history.
29.
Inhaling Minerals As-Best As Possible
video documentation of an intervention
5'42'' sound
Liste Artfair, Base (CH)l
2010
Warteck building, Basel, Liste 2010 Performance Programme In his recent works Philippe Van Wolputte has been working with asbestos, a mineral that he often stumbles upon in his research and discoveries of abandoned spaces. Since 2009 the artist has been collecting asbestos from various locations and will now assign it a new function in his upcoming works. Instead of removing asbestos and disposing of it responsibly, he brings the mineral compound back into public space in the format of asbestos paintings, as a remembrance of a time of ignorance and denial. For the intervention Inhaling Minerals As-best As Possible the artist focuses on the Warteck building in Basel. A video documents his research for Asbestos in the basement.
28.
Looking Into Those Liquid Dark Eyes
intervention at Anti Tank Channel, Brasschaat , Belgium
latex paint, dust sheets
2010
This intervention is located underneath the Antwerp A1 highway at a point where it crosses a second world war Antitank Canal. At this location two artificial solutions, with contradicting functions, collide. The highway functions for mobility, the anti tank canal was build for the immobility of tanks. This clash creates an uncanny space, visually and mentally. The artists aim is to bring attention to this specific location which visualizes the fastness and harsh ways of changing landscapes."
27.
We Did It / Disputed Territory
intervention
Chert, Berlin
2010
"We Did It / Disputed Territory" is dividing and reopening the space. In doing so, the artist reenacts the phenomenon of shrinking cities. The intervention seems to open itself as a question towards what is public and what is private, fusing some of the principal points the artist has been working on in the recent past: the contrast between a space and a "non-space", between an art-dedicated context and a temporary created exhibition space.
In a place as public as Schlesisches Tor U-Bahn corner, the artist places the first object constituting the exhibition. The sign "we did it/disputed territory" gives an inequivocable direction to the intentions of the project. Pointing in the direction of the gallery, but without giving any further information, this street-specific piece completely loses its function, becoming an abstract object. Its unpredictable destiny emphasizes its non-function as well, in contrast with its appearance as an informative object.
26.
Open Source
intervention
Rijskakademie, Amsterdam (NL)
2010
Open Source is an intervention made at the Rijksakademie of Amsterdam in November 2009. By removing the window and building a temporary staircase, the public could experience 110 square meter of decaying, unused property.
25.
Getting Over
video, 2'16", sound
2010
Philippe Van Wolputte's video "Getting Over"(2009) is a remake of the opening scene of the independent movie "Wild Style", which tells the story of a graffiti writer in the south-Bronx during the early 80's. The opening scene of this movie was the only scene that director Charlie Ahearne could get the money together to do properly (legally), the rest of the film was done 'on the run' - without permission.
For this reason Philippe Van Wolputte decided to redo this opening scene for The Zero Budget Biennial at Galerie Carlos Cardenas, Paris & Galerie schleicher + lange, Paris (FR) without any funds.
24.
Covered Yet Possible (documentation of intervention)
site-specific sculpture
metal 120 x 120 x 80 cm
2009
Philippe van Wolputte's photos and collages show or suggest his interventions in abandoned, neglected locations which have an important function in the memory and the social landscape of a city. For his work "Restricted yet possible" he created a new entrance to such a location. The photographs show both the internal of the location as the interpretation of his experience in creating interventions like that and reveal his characteristic, intimate art of observing.
23.
To Get The Idea Of It
installation
tape, xerox prints, 900 x 200 cm
2009
"To Get The Idea Of It" is a collage of collected texts that represent some core ideas in the work of P.V.W. Parts come from self written texts as also from other resources including (The architectural Uncanny, T.A.Z.: The temporary Autonomous Zone,...) and deal with themes like: reuse, appropriation of forgotten places as well the artistic function these places can get.
22.
Profound Fascination
Site-specific metal sculpture
Zentrum Paul Klee, Bern (CH)
2008
This sculpture was made for the exhibition "Dragged Down Into Lowercase". A concept devised by curator Clémentine Deliss and artist Oscar Tuazon. It got presented in an outdoor exhibition space designed by Oscar Tuazon: a triangular 1m excavated structure including a 3m high wall, built from local timber cut into boards by UK artists Heather and Ivan Morison. Profound Fascination is a 1m exposed entrance to down under.
Due to the concept of the show "Dragged Down Into Lowercase" and the conditions in which the work got shown this structure becomes difficult to enter.
21.
A Collection Of Hideouts
PVC constructed installation (625x500x125)
5 xerox prints (125 x 86 cm)
2008
A collection of Hideouts is a PVC constructed installation (625x500x125) with 5 c-prints (130 x 87 cm).
The 5 c-prints above the construction show 5 different hideouts underneath the seemingly closed wooden construction.
20.
3 Closed Conditions
site specific intervention
wooden sculptures, 120 x 70 cm
Nicc, Antwerp (BE)
2008
3 Closed Conditions is a site specific work made at NICC, Antwerp. The work was made for the first exhibition at NICC's new exhibition space. The modification of the space to it's new function of an exhibition space, wiped away the visual history of the building. The wooden panels indicate three holes in the floor which got closed down during the renovations of the space. The taped xerox prints on the wooden panels present photo's that were taken from underneath these shut voids.
19.
5 New Piercings
piercings 01 - 02
site specific intervention
2008
5 New Piercings is a staged intervention. A two minute video shows the artist during the cutting of 5 holes in 2 opposite walls of a room.
Alongside of this video, 5 dust sheets hang on the walls. On the floor there are remainers of the piercings that seemingly occured in the space.
18.
Temporary habitats
Tape, xerox prints mounted on wood, 240 x 180 cm
2008
The Temporary Habitats serie is an ongoing project. TEMP.HAB 01 was build around two months before it was covered up again. TEMP.HAB 02 was build around one months before it was covered up again.
17.
50 Motions
Motions 1 / 2 / 3
xerox prints
21 x 29,7 cm
2008
A serie of 50 xerox prints. The first one in this serie " Motion: 51°13'21.83"/04°23'48.36" is a multiple made for A4²:
a limited 60 copies edition with the contribution of 7 artists: Guy Rombouts, Danny Devos, Lode Geens, Kati Heck, Timothy Segers, Dennis Tyfus, Philippe Van Wolputte and a text by Hans They put together by Lode Geens.
16.
On All Fours
Video Installation (5m x 12,5m x 1,25m - MDF panels)
DVD, 48', sound
Hessenhuis, Antwerp (BE)
2006
The artist crawls, digs and finally leaves his mark in a self made course underneath a MDF constructed box, inspired on found locations during
exploring trips. Rooms drained in dirt, sand, flooded paces, blocked doors,... are a few of the situations in the 40 minute trip, filmed and replayed
above the construction.
15. 
A 16M Commemoration
Installation 16m x 2.90m x 1.50m
wood, mdf panels, river foil, water
MuHKA, ANtwerp (BE)
2006
The installation is a commemoration of a 16m long tunnel found by the artist during one of his excursion in Miljet, Croatia. During this trip the artist couldn't make it further then 16m inside this tunnel. The public walks the same 16 meters through water to get to a final room in the back of the installation.In 2008 Philippe Van Wolputte made a second work around this tunnel "Second Visit", which documents a second visit to the location, to finally get further then the original 16m.
14.
In-Depth Study
intervention
Poort Napoleon, Ghent, Belgium
2006
An intervention made for the 9th Elia Biennlale conference 2006, split over two floors. In-Depths study is the search for an underground tunnel underneath the Citadel Park in Ghent, which starts out at Poort Napoleon and leads to the Military Hospital of Ghent. For security reasons the public was only allowed to watch the digging and search by a monitor, showing the progress of the digging.
13.
Stockage / Transmitter
installation
Showroom Mama, Rotterdam (NL)
2006
Stockage/Transmitter is a site specific installation, which is an extension of an earlier work called reconstructed construction. Philippe van Wolputte gives new meaning to vacant buildings. Using narrow corridors and holes, he creates new passageways and he infiltrates into almost impenetrable non-spaces. Through extensive preliminary research, Van Wolputte investigates the accessibility of buildings and the possibilities they offer for interventions.His preliminary investigations take place in so-called communication spaces. Here the artist applies a broad range of resources such as files, photographs, a radio and a television to increase the intensity of his quest. Van Wolputte's working method puts the emphasis on reconstructions of unused spaces, raising the question what defines public space.The personal interpretation of his experiences and the intimate manner of viewing these spaces characterise his work. With the help of short films, Van Wolputte shows fragments of various Antwerp locations that currently occupy the artist and might function as places for temporary intervention in the future. He does this in a communication space which is a construction inviting us to look inward
One Week Visitor
installation
carpet, bed, sheets, xerox prints, tape, chain, lock
2006
A portrait of a one week visit by an artist forced to stay at a certain location. The room in which the artist sleeps is locked from inside but still accessible to the curious public. Inside, aside of his bed and clothes, photos are taped on one of the walls. The photo prints show the artist in different crawling-, jumping-, climbing-positions in the building of the exhibition: a reflection on urban exploring.
Reconstructed Construction
installation
cardboard on wooden construction, silk screened wallpaper, tiled floor, carpet floor, electrical equipment: television, DVD-player, transmitter, lightning, plastic ridge tent, silkscreen materials, copy prints, iron case, bed mattress, buckets of latex paint.
2006
This installation presents a distorted version of the previous made "Base A", part of "T.P.E.S. 03". Different from "Base A", which represented a genuine working space, this new work base is purely fictitious. It is a reconstruction of what the spectator interprets by looking at other work of the artist: namely a reconstruction of the artist's image. This is why the ever-recurring "Temporary Penetrable Exhibition Spaces" and safety-camera images in his work are being reduced to stage props as well as the working material and the portrayed way of the artist's habitat.
F.T.P.E.S.
installation
cardboard on wooden construction, silk screened wallpaper, tiled floor, carpet floor, electrical equipment: television, DVD-player, transmitter, lightning, plastic ridge tent, silkscreen materials, copy prints, iron case, bed mattress, buckets of latex paint.
2006
This installation presents a distorted version of the previous made "Base A", part of "T.P.E.S. 03". Different from "Base A", which represented a genuine working space, this new work base is purely fictitious. It is a reconstruction of what the spectator interprets by looking at other work of the artist: namely a reconstruction of the artist's image. This is why the ever-recurring "Temporary Penetrable Exhibition Spaces" and safety-camera images in his work are being reduced to stage props as well as the working material and the portrayed way of the artist's habitat.
Reconstructed Construction
installation
cardboard on wooden construction, silk screened wallpaper, tiled floor, carpet floor, electrical equipment: television, DVD-player, transmitter, lightning, plastic ridge tent, silkscreen materials, copy prints, iron case, bed mattress, buckets of latex paint.
2006
This installation presents a distorted version of the previous made "Base A", part of "T.P.E.S. 03". Different from "Base A", which represented a genuine working space, this new work base is purely fictitious. It is a reconstruction of what the spectator interprets by looking at other work of the artist: namely a reconstruction of the artist's image. This is why the ever-recurring "Temporary Penetrable Exhibition Spaces" and safety-camera images in his work are being reduced to stage props as well as the working material and the portrayed way of the artist's habitat.
Gone/Demolished
digital print (80x80)
taped behind acrylic glass
2005
"Gone/ Demolished" is an intervention at the Military Hospital of Antwerp (B),
using latex paint, paper, two leather seats, iron table.
Gone/Demolished is part of a small series of interventions called "indicated locations" made from 2003 to 2005. With these interventions the artist tries to reevaluate forgotten places. He does this by adding a grid onto the architecture, as an indication mark. This gets done with various materials, depending on the situation.
Rewiring
digital print (80x80)
taped behind acrylic glass
2005
"Rewiring" is an intervention at the old South-station of Antwerp (B)
spray paint, plastic wires, corrugated iron. Rewiring is part of a small series of interventions called "indicated locations" made from 2003 to 2005. With these interventions the artist tries to eevaluate forgotten places. He does this by adding a grid onto the architecture, as an indication mark. This gets done with various materials, depending on the situation.
Temporary Penetrable Exhibition Space 06
intervention
2011
Temporary Penetrable Exhibition Space 05
xerox prints, tape
168 x 112 cm
2009
The T.P.E.S.'s are site-specific interventions that occur in vacant disused spaces. T.P.E.S. 5 was on the location of a torn down building in the center of Brussels (BE). The location got penetrated and temporarily re-opened for public in December 2009. The walls above the basement entrance were spraypainted with indication marks for T.P.E.S. 05. The existence off this location got mentioned at an opening of Vienna International Apartment.
Temporary Penetrable Exhibition Space 04
intervention
2009
The T.P.E.S.'s are site-specific interventions that occur in vacant disused spaces.The public assembled at the gallery at 5:00pm on Thursday October 9th, and walked to T.P.E.S. 04 together, which is located in the immediate surroundings of the gallery. The gallery functioned as an outpos t for the work. Despite the fact that cities in the Netherlands are in a good example of mass-extinction of the obsolete and the useless, Wolputte managed to find a meaningful site for a T.P.E.S. in Rotterdam after a long period of research.
Philippe van Wolputte bekommerde zich om de 'speculaasjes': de stenen ornamenten die tot voor kort Van Ravesteyns Centraal Station in Rotterdam sierden. Ze staan nu naast de bouwput te wachten op een ongewisse toekomst. Van Wolputte zag er twee muren in en bouwde zo een huisje, niet ver van de gesloopte Pauluskerk vandaan. Daklozen maken er dankbaar gebruik van. In veel gevallen is de sloopkogel onafwendbaar. Kunsthistorisch onderzoek kan tot die tijd belangrijke vragen beantwoorden: wat moeten we behouden, hoe verhoudt deze kunststroming zich tot andere tijden en landen? De vergaarde kennis is nog summier. Misschien valt er iets te leren van dit onderbelichte hoofdstuk uit de kunstgeschiedenis. Het is kunst met draagvlak onder burgers. Dat is interessant in een tijd dat de kunstwereld graag klaagt dat diezelfde burgers te weinig belangstelling hebben voor kunst en cultuur.
Temporary Penetrable Exhibition Space 03 - Base A
intervention
2006
The T.P.E.S.'s are site-specific interventions that occur in vacant disuses spaces. Like many cities in Belgium, the city of Antwerp has many derelict, vacant buildings and spaces. These spaces are sometimes inhabited by the homeless. As a result these buildings are typically demolished by developers and city councils as quickly as possible. What is not generally acknowledged is that these deteriorated spaces serve an important function in the memory and social landscape of the city and in a way possess a beauty of their own. The rapid measures taken to demolish these unused spaces are a way to exclude everything that is irrational, chaotic and seemingly unreasonable in urban planning. Philippe van Wolputte's interventions draw attention to the existence of these spaces by making them accessible again for a short period of time, and he approaches his subjects with an almost Freudian-like obsession. Using narrow corridors and holes, he creates new passageways and infiltrates nearly impenetrable spaces, giving them a new temporary function as a fictional exhibition space. The artist's interpretation of his experiences in creating his interventions and the intimate manner of viewing these spaces characterise his work, expressed in beautiful graph like photographs, videos and collages. "Base A" is an installation functioning as a work base and meeting space for T.P.E.S. 03, which are 7 interventions made in Antwerp (BE). The seven locations are explained and highlighted in this workspace.
"At the entrance you were invited to leave again, Philippe Van Wolputte had an itinerary of alternative spaces all lined up for nocturnal visits... a number of derelict houses which were to be found in the area and which he reconnoitered and included in his selection of "Temporary Penetrable Exhibition Spaces". He set up a camp at the entrance and distributed maps & leaflets for the parcours, as well as a catalogue of interior snapshots (without lightning). We don't know how many visitors embarked on the walk-about, so don't know how many never came back."
Temporary Penetrable Exhibition Space 02
intervention
2005
The T.P.E.S.'s are site-specific interventions that occur in vacant disuses spaces. Like many cities in Belgium, the city of Antwerp has many derelict, vacant buildings and spaces. These spaces are sometimes inhabited by the homeless. As a result these buildings are typically demolished by developers and city councils as quickly as possible. What is not generally acknowledged is that these deteriorated spaces serve an important function in the memory and social landscape of the city and in a way possess a beauty of their own. The rapid measures taken to demolish these unused spaces are a way to exclude everything that is irrational, chaotic and seemingly unreasonable in urban planning. Philippe van Wolputte's interventions draw attention to the existence of these spaces by making them accessible again for a short period of time, and he approaches his subjects with an almost Freudian-like obsession. Using narrow corridors and holes, he creates new passageways and infiltrates nearly impenetrable spaces, giving them a new temporary function as a fictional exhibition space. The artist's interpretation of his experiences in creating his interventions and the intimate manner of viewing these spaces characterise his work, expressed in beautiful graph like photographs, videos and collages. T.P.E.S. 2 was a house in Mechelen, penetrated and temporary partly re-opened for public in 2005. The entrance to this space was just a re-opened door. The covered windows got spray painted with patterns as an indication for the event. The existence off this location got mentioned by an email send out as a fwd. message.
Temporary Penetrable Exhibition Space 01
documentation of intervention
2005
The T.P.E.S.'s are site-specific interventions that occur in vacant disuses spaces. Like many cities in Belgium, the city of Antwerp has many derelict, vacant buildings and spaces. These spaces are sometimes inhabited by the homeless. As a result these buildings are typically demolished by developers and city councils as quickly as possible. What is not generally acknowledged is that these deteriorated spaces serve an important function in the memory and social landscape of the city and in a way possess a beauty of their own. The rapid measures taken to demolish these unused spaces are a way to exclude everything that is irrational, chaotic and seemingly unreasonable in urban planning. Philippe van Wolputte's interventions draw attention to the existence of these spaces by making them accessible again for a short period of time, and he approaches his subjects with an almost Freudian-like obsession. Using narrow corridors and holes, he creates new passageways and infiltrates nearly impenetrable spaces, giving them a new temporary function as a fictional exhibition space. The artist's interpretation of his experiences in creating his interventions and the intimate manner of viewing these spaces characterise his work, expressed in beautiful graph like photographs, videos and collages. T.P.E.S. 1 was a building in Antwerp, penetrated and temporary partly re-opened for public in 2005. The entrance to this space was just a re-opened door.
The covered windows got spray painted with patterns as an indication for the event. The existence off this location got mentioned by an email send out as a fwd. message.