HeHe, Nuage vert, Saint-Ouen, 2009. Inkjet print on dibond. 120 x 120 cm. Ed. of 3. Courtesy of Aeroplastics contemporary, Brussels
HeHe
Anthroposphere
16 January – 15 March 2014
at Aeroplastics contemporary, Brussels
The duo HeHe (Helen Evans, 1972 and Heiko Hansen, 1970) personifies a new generation of artists who create a link between the sphere of technological/digital art (too self-referential, and frequented solely by the initiated), and that of contemporary art (reluctant to accept new modes of expression based on subverting new informational/communicational technologies). Each of these spheres has developed its distinct circuits of communication and ‘diffusion’, and common points of contact between the two remain rare. HeHe, winner of the Golden Nica at Ars Electronica (Linz) in 2008 – equivalent to the Golden Lion of the Venice Biennial for digital arts – regularly exhibit in locations dedicated to technological art, and extend their interventions into the public domain internationally (New York, Paris, Helsinki, Liverpool, …). By mounting this first personal exhibition in Belgium, Aeroplastics offers the duo the opportunity to present their work in all its complexity, and to demonstrate the contemporary relevance of the themes they study and pursue.
These themes are essentially connected to the conflictual rapport between a humanity that is caught up in an unbridled quest for new sources of energy (along with new ways of wasting it), and an ever-increasingly fragile natural environment. On the gallery’s first floor, two installations illustrate recent catastrophes caused by the exploitation of the main energy resources from the industrial age: oil and nuclear energy. Is There a Horizon in the Deepwater (2011) stages the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil platform in 2010, while Fleur de Lys (2009), a nuclear plant plunged in an aquarium, evokes the dangers of atomic energy. Here, one naturally thinks of the Fukushima disaster in 2011, but there is also a manner of premonition: at its origin, the piece was conceived as being part of a series devoted to clouds (pollution) generated by human activity. The title Fleur de Lys harks back to the stylized form of the smoke plume emitted by the cooling tower, but also symbolically refers to France, a country 80% dependent on the atom for its energy needs. [read the full text here]
Aeroplastics contemporary
32 rue Blanche,
1060 Brussels,
Belgium
aeroplastics.net
Opening hours
Tuesday – Friday: 11h00 – 18h00
Saturday: 14h00 – 18h00
*during summer
Tuesday – Saturday 14h00 – 18h00
or by appointment (closed on Bank Holidays)
HeHe, Fleur de Lys, 2009. Installation. 285 x 95 x 85 cm. Unique. Courtesy of Aeroplastics contemporay, Brussels
HeHe, Is there a horizon in the deep water?, 2011. Installation with video. Variable dimensions. Unique. Courtesy of Aeroplastics contemporay, Brussels
HeHe, Prise en charge, 2011. Miniature smoke machine, electrical socket. 8 x 8 x 30 cm. Ed. of 3. Courtesy of Aeroplastics contemporary, Brussels