Project: Reading Between the Lines
Designed by Gijs Van Vaerenbergh
Location: Looz, Limburg, Belgium
Website: gijsvanvaerenbergh.com
Reading Between the Lines installation project in Looz (Belgium) comes from the drawing board of Gijs Van Vaerenbergh.
From the Architects:
On September 24th, 2011 Gijs Van Vaerenbergh revealed a construction in the rural landscape of Borgloon (Limburg, Belgium) that’s based on the design of the local church. This construction consists of 30 tons of steel and 2000 columns, and is built on a fundament of armed concrete. Through the use of horizontal plates, the concept of the traditional church is transformed into a transparent object of art.
Reading between the Lines can be read as a reflection on architectural themes such as scale, the ground plan etc., but the project also emphatically transcends the strictly architectural. After all, the church does not have a well-defined function and focuses on visual experience in itself (one could even consider it to be a line drawing in space). At the same time, the construction demonstrates that this experience is in effect a consequence of the design, since it explicitly refers to the various stages in its conception: the design drawing, the model… Apart from that, because the church does not fulfil its classical function, it can be read as a heritage related reflection on the present vacancy of churches in the area (and their potential artistic reuse).
Reading between the Lines is part of ‘pit’, an artistic trajectory with works by some ten artists in the region of Borgloon-Heers (in the Flemish province of Limburg). ‘Pit’ will be the first part of the exhibition project Z-OUT, an initiative in which Z33, the contemporary art museum of the city of Hasselt, presents art in public space.
