© Johannes Langkamp. Pleased To Meet You (L), 2022. Courtesy of the artist
CONTINUOUS (LOCO)MOTION
In my work I primarily play with and wonder about my own perception and perspective. Small everyday moments turn into playful research when I ask myself ‘what happens if…’. What happens if I drop a sheet of paper from a building? Or when I roll an actively spraying aerosol can across the floor? What would happen if I make a wooden bench with 1000 wheels? (...). it is a short moment of questioning, followed by a long process of material experiments.
German artist Johannes Langkamp is a creator with the playful eye of a researcher. His sculptures invite you to experience space differently whilst questioning your viewing experience at the same time. Scattered in the various reception areas and in-between spaces of STUK, they make use of specific characteristics of newly designed spaces, play with view lines or, conversely, open new perspectives on parts of the building itself.
In The Movement of Space a quadrangular surface opens and closes in a continuous movement, like a mechanical eye. Similar to the lens of a film or photocamera, it opens a different perspective to the space behind questioning our framed field of vision.
No need to sit still on the bench Pleased To Meet You. Created out of hundreds of wheels embedded in a wooden structure, this bench turns sitting into a sliding game.
As a silent witness to both space and time, the large-scale textile piece Woven Light rotates in an endless loop in the new reception area, visible from the Naamsestraat. In that same hallway, situated in between a high window and a door, you will find a smaller artwork exploring the relationships between length and width; an Ongoing Discussion about Ratio.
A compilation of video sketches completes Langkamp’s first solo exhibition in Belgium. For more than 12 years, Johannes Langkamp has been recording his experiments, observations and ideas in short videos. They give a wonderful insight into his practice and are, for him, of equal value to his spatial sculptures. Everything touches each other in a continuous cycle of play and reflection.
STUK RECEPTION areas
14 SEP - 31 OCT
OPENING at STUK START
WE 14 SEP — 19:00
In the presence of the artist
OPENING HOURS DURING STUK START
Th 14.09 — 19:00 - 23:00
Fr 15.09 — 19:00 - 23:00
REGULAR OPENING HOURS
The exhibition can be visited during the general opening hours of STUK:
Mo - Fr — 11:00 - 23:00
Sa - Su — 14:00 - 23:00
FREE without reservation
JOHANNES LANGKAMP
(°1985, Steinfurt, Germany)
The work of Johannes Langkamp is shaped by wonder. Using videos, photographic techniques, kinetic models and spatial installations, he challenges the interplay between process and outcome. In his practice, he constantly looks for ways to question our viewing behaviour, broadening our view of reality itself.
Johannes Langkamp studied visual arts at the Academy for Art and Industry ArtEZ in Enschede and Exchange University of Arts in London. His work was recently shown in solo exhibitions at Kunstenlab Deventer, Expo Bart Nijmegen and V2_Lab for the Unstable Media, and in group exhibitions at The First Beijing Biennial, Depot Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Museum Voorlinden and Un Art Center, Shanghai, among others. Langkamp lives in Rotterdam. He consistently collaborates with media art production platform Werktank.
Works in the exhibition:
The Movement of Space, 2019
Kinetic sculpture / Mechanically operated kinetic sculpture
Metal, motor and diverse components, 300x140x280cm (length width height)
Courtesy of the artist and Werktank
With the support of the Flemish Government
Pleased To Meet You (L), 2022 /
Metal and conveyor wheels, 40 x 200 x 45 cm
Courtesy of the artist
Woven Light, 2022
Kinetic sculpture / Fabric, wood, metal and mechanical components
280x110x50cm, Edition of 10 (2 AP)
Courtesy of the artist
A coproduction of STUK, House for Dance, Image and Sound
Videosketches, 2011-2020
Single channel video compilation, 15’
Ongoing Discussion about Ratio, 2022
Kinetic sculpture / Wooden structure, paper, metal, motor unit and mechanical components
63x28x11cm, Edition of 3 (+1AP)
Courtesy of the artist
With the support of the Ambassade van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden in België.
