Ronny Heiremans
In 2006 Katleen Vermeir (1973) and Ronny Heiremans (1962) initiated A.I.R ('artist in residence'), a collaborative practice that examines the dynamics between art, architecture and economy. The practice encapsulates different projects one of which defines their private habitat as an artwork. Working reflexively, the artists use their loft apartment in Brussels as source material, producing “mediated extensions” of their domestic space. Vermeir & Heiremans use A.I.R as a platform for collaborating with a variety of people. This approach led to research-based video works like The Good Life, which was commissioned by Arnolfini, Bristol in 2009 and became part of the Argos collection. The Good Life is a meditation on the inextricable relationship between art, real estate, art institutions and the wider structure of the economy, harnessed today by the 'creative class'.
Their new video focuses on the artist as entrepreneur in a global society that qualifies economy as the single measure of things. In more than one way the video relates to Faust, part 2, in which Goethe presents Faust as a project developer. Conceived during an extended residency in China (2009-10), the project initiated a collaboration with a Chinese artist/architect, Ma Wen. Sharing insights on the creative clusters concept Vermeir & Heiremans documented his practice as a cultural producer.
The Residence (2012) is presented as a video installation, co-designed by Ma Wen. It features Ma Wen and two fictional characters. One is Hilar, a very wealthy investor who commissions the Chinese architect to develop a house for his afterlife. Through Hilar a world of economic fetishism opens up. The other is a rather allegorical character, enveloping a dozen roles, all of them performed by one actress. Appearing not only as assistant in Ma Wen's office but also as the embodiment of all women in Hilar’s world, her multiplicity aligns with the financial market’s shiftiness.
For this project Vermeir & Heiremans collaborated closely with Ma Wen, and with British sound artist Justin Bennett. Apart from the soundscape, the artists also commissioned him to design an algorithm that is linked to the currency & gold market. The algorithm generates a never-ending edit of the Hilar footage.
The Residence (a wager for the afterlife) is a video project by Katleen Vermeir & Ronny Heiremans in collaboration with Ma Wen, Justin Bennett, Amir Borenstein, Mieja Hollevoet, Salome Schmuki, Karlijn Sileghem, Wim van der Grijn.
Photos: Kristien Daem.
A production of Limited Editions vzw supported by Flanders Audiovisual Fund and the Flemish Community. Coproduction: Argos, centre for art and media (Brussels), C-Mine (Genk), Cultuurcentrum (Bruges), deBuren (Brussels), Extra City Kunsthal (Antwerp), FLACC (Genk), Manifesta 9 Limburg (Genk) and Triodos Fonds. Research support: artist residencies in China CEAC (Xiamen), TIM (Beijing)