CONTOUR

MINDERBROEDERSKERK

Fiona Tan's video installation Saint Sebastian (2001) intertwined multiple meanings, referencing both Western Christian and Eastern Buddhist traditions. The title alludes to Saint Sebastian, martyred for his faith, while the video depicts a Buddhist ritual at the Sanjûsangen-dô temple in Kyoto, where young women participate in Toshiya archery to demonstrate readiness for adulthood. Tan uses documentary-style footage but avoids presenting a typical narrative, focusing instead on the act of looking and the viewer's engagement. The installation features a two-sided screen, drawing attention to both the spectators and the archer, merging the audience with the experience.

BEGUINAGE CHURCH

Hans Op de Beeck initially gained fame for his maquettes of desolate landscapes and cityscapes, winning the Prize of the Young Belgian Painting. Over time, he expanded his practice to video art, which shares a similarly haunting, deserted atmosphere and often incorporates references to the history of drawing and painting. Situation (2) (2003) blends realism and surrealism, addressing contemporary issues like refugee and poverty struggles while invoking ancient symbols of salvation. The video is projected in the church of the Beguinage, merging with its marble sculptures and paintings to suggest a transcendent, universal narrative.

SAINT CATHERINE’S CHURCH

Since 1994, Dutch artists Jeroen de Rijke and Willem de Rooij have worked together on films that are more like art installations than traditional cinema, emphasizing still images and minimal movement. Their works often draw from Dutch painting traditions such as architectural, landscape, and portrait painting. Their films explore time, duration, and ambiguity: Junks (1998), in particular, features six portraits of Amsterdam drug addicts, filmed in an intimate yet confrontational way, challenging the viewer's role as an observer. The work combines classical portraiture techniques with a sense of voyeurism, questioning the ethics of looking and judgment.

Wim Wauman established himself as a photographer. He travels widely, capturing animals and landscapes not for documentary purposes but as a means to explore color, form, and atmosphere. Wauman treats his subjects as sculptural objects, often producing large-scale prints on plexiglass. His video works also focus on careful composition. For Contour 2003, he created Arthur on tour, Part 1 (2003), an installation featuring videos and a self-portrait with his pet rabbit, Arthur, symbolizing both freedom and personal identification.

SAINT JOHN’S CHURCH

Since 2001, Franciska Lambrechts and Honoré d'O have collaborated on projects, often by transforming available spaces, such as parks or churches, by interpreting their atmosphere, history, and essence. They add subtle elements that invite playful participation from the audience. 

In the Sacrament Chapel, they present Mixed Commission (56% Red 21% Green 22% Blue) (2003), a large image, temporarily replacing a restored painting. The scene represents a committee discussing the artwork's conditions. It symbolizes the transfer of the commission, with the artist ultimately determining its direction. The scene’s composition is controlled by a figure using a vectorscope to achieve a specific color ratio: 56% red, 21% green, 22% blue.

CHURCH OF SAINT PETER AND SAINT PAUL

Orla Barry’s work is deeply audio-visual, blending video, performance, sound, and photography. She remains connected to her Irish roots, with landscapes, figures, sounds, and especially words that hold deep significance for her. Words are integral to her practice, often intertwining with imagery. In Foundlings (2001), text recedes into the background, complemented by hypnotic visuals of Ireland’s coastline. Her piece Unsaid (2001) made in collaboration with Rui Chafes merges sound and space, inviting viewers to immerse themselves in a sensory experience of whispered voices, evoking an otherworldly feeling, like being in a confessional or a church.

Delmotte refers to himself as Messieurs in the plural, as he consistently incorporates himself into performances. His work explores surrealism with distinct Belgian characteristics, reminiscent of Magritte and Broodthaers. He adopts the persona of a mad dandy, often engaging in absurd, nonsensical actions, some humorous, others shocking. His repeated failures, like falling or attempting impossible feats, embody the artist’s ongoing struggle. His anger, directed at animals or objects, reflects his boundless imagination. Through his videos, such as Sapin and Le Ballon (1999), Delmotte distances himself from life and art, even devaluing both, suggesting that reality and fiction are indistinguishable and fragmented.

THE CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF LELIENDAAL

In his video portrait Maria (2003), Sven Augustijnen explores language and aphasia, a disorder affecting communication due to brain injury. This forms part of his long-term project Afasia, focusing on patients undergoing intensive speech therapy. He blurs the line between video art and documentary, highlighting aphasia's impact on speech and thought. While some verbal errors by aphasics appear poetic, they also reflect the painful reality of their condition. In the portrait, Maria attempts to recall prayers like the Hail Mary, showing the struggle and beauty in language recovery.

SAINT RUMBOLD'S CATHEDRAL 

Els Dietvorst, known for her sculptures and drawings, has recently turned to moving images, using them as a tool for social interaction. In Lied voor de Prijs van een Geit (2003), she blends experimental video art with documentary elements to create a surreal, yet intimate portrait of Luigi, an Italian migrant who tends sheep and goats near the Brussels-Charleroi canal. The film captures Luigi's quiet, authentic life, contrasting the fast-paced modern world. Shot intuitively with a small camera, the work reflects Dietvorst's desire to connect with nature and is presented in a gothic church, adding biblical references to its contemporary pastoral theme.

Rob Johannesma’s video work, such as Untitled (2002), blends painting, photography, and moving images, creating a unique style rooted in the Renaissance tradition of "atmospheric" landscapes. His work begins with photography, often of untouched landscapes from places like Nevada or New Mexico. Through extensive manipulation, he creates abstract, meditative video pieces. Johannesma's process involves slow, deliberate camera movements, emphasizing perception and the viewing process. His works, which are detached from their original context, present serene, poetic landscapes, inviting viewers to engage with the act of looking itself, pushing the boundaries of time, space, and reality in the process.

DE GARAGE

Jef Geys’ work is complex, autobiographical, and multifaceted, spanning photography, drawings, painted notes, videos, and more. His vast archive, built over decades, captures both personal reflections and social concerns, particularly regarding power and manipulation. Known series like Kleine Zaadzakjes and Grote Zaadzakjes challenge advertising’s false imagery, while other works, such as his erotic drawings at Middelheim, critique art sponsorship. His 36-hour film at Documenta 11, a compilation of his life’s photographs, portrays a lifetime condensed into moving, yet still, images. Geys is celebrated internationally for his independent, critical approach to both art and society. Contour presented the video work Zwarte Lola (c.1965) and drawings by Jef Geys.

Elske Neus' videos and installations often feature choreographed movements within static images. In works like Dans (2000), slow, graceful movements of snails unfold on LCD screens, creating an elegant, almost balletic performance. In Wacht (2002), a dancer is moved by an unseen wheel, symbolizing fate and the fleeting nature of life. Her latest work, meta-morf, reflects on time and change, highlighting the passage of life through the slow transformation of bread dough.

And more works such as the drawings by Els Dietvorst and Hans Op de Beeck; the sculpture by Honore d'O; photos by Wim Wauman and Mrs Delmotte.