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Component 4446

The Angel binding Satan

(2019)
30 x 15 x 300cm
steel, rope and clips
 part of a series of components produced for the exhibition Good Conditions
shown at DWM Gallery




Title refers to an 18th century painting from Philippe-Jacques De Loutherberg.
The stimulus for this work goes back to a religious object I encountered in a church in the South of Germany, and the urge to reproduce it from memory. It is not so much the religious connotation that interests me but the potential the object embodies to merge mental and functional aspects. It makes me wonder about its possible ‘use’ and the stories, meaning and rituals attached to it. I am attracted to this ambiguous status of objects, when floating between use and fantasy, and to the fact that old materialities not only belong to the past, but they continue to animate the present.




This component forms part of Good Conditions

In Good Conditions, Kris Van Dessel and Tom Van Malderen build upon their previous collaboration Conditions and Opportunities at DMW Art Space in 2017. Together with curator Tram Scawped, the artists continue their quest into the protocols of exhibiting and the mechanism of the contemporary art economy in general. Their previous collaboration at DMW investigated the conditions and opportunities of the ‘art space’ by means of a series of minimal in situ interventions, ranging from subtle modifications of lighting and heating elements to enquiries into the appropriate shade of white for the walls of a white cube. Following up on this expo, 'Good Conditions' explores the application and potential of autonomous artworks as components of a dense art-fair-look-alike constellation. As part of this enquiry, all prices of the works on display are fixed in accordance with the inscrutable laws of the art economy and arranged in an easy-reference component list with accompanying article numbers.
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