A Syntax of Dependency

Lawrence Weiner and Liam Gillick have made an in situ intervention in the Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp (MuHKA) that is ingenious on a number of levels.

"The Wings", the triple-certified building of the future

The Wings is an innovative complex that combines futuristic design and sustainability. With BREEAM Excellent, WELL Gold, and DGNB Gold certifications, the building houses offices, a hotel, and common areas, utilizing advanced solutions such as AGC Stopray glass for energy efficiency.

Sponsored content

A floor work spreads out over a space of some 1600m2, with tricolore bands of black, red and yellow linoleum that alternate with white and grey, and strewn with fragments of text in English, Flemish and French, such as Folded within itself/Replié sur soi-même/Op zichzelf geplooid. This is definitely not the sort of exhibition one normally expects to see nowadays in the context of a museum.

By using a material like linoleum—which has direct associations with bland spaces and impersonal clinics—they take up the challenge of the architecture of the institution and turn it to their advantage. To work in dialogue with a space and leave the public deep in thought is something that fewer and fewer artists are able to achieve. Weiner and Gillick leave the walls of the museum bare, which also lends the work a sense of expansive space.

Liam Gillick and Lawrence Weiner, <i>A Syntax of Dependency</i>, 2011. Photo MuHKA — Liam Gillick and Lawrence Weiner, *A Syntax of Dependency*, 2011. Photo MuHKA

With the title, A syntax of dependency, and their use of the three-toned tricolore of the Belgian flag, the artists are also commenting on the difficult political situation and community tensions that have been ongoing since June 2007 and which have become problematic since the election of June 2010, from which point the political parties have to this day failed in any attempt to form a government.

In an interview with the Belgian newspaper De Standaard, Lawrence Weiner asserted that "All art is political," echoing a statement by political theorist Chantal Mouffe: "There is an aesthetic dimension in the political and there is a political dimension in art. This is why I consider that it is not useful to make a distinction between political and non-political art."

Creating 'A syntax of dependency:' from Muhka Web TV on Vimeo

Until 22 May 2011
Lawrence Weiner and Liam Gillick
MuHKA
Leuvenstraat 32
2000 Antwerp

"Less, but better", the "necessary" project at Agorà Design

The festival dedicated to conscious design returns to Salento: conferences, events, workshops and a challenge for the designers of today and tomorrow.

Sponsored content

A Syntax of Dependency

Lawrence Weiner and Liam Gillick have made an in situ intervention in the Museum of Contemporary Art, Antwerp (MuHKA) that is ingenious on a number of levels.

"The Wings", the triple-certified building of the future

"Less, but better", the "necessary" project at Agorà Design

Latest on News

Latest on Domus