»Primary Functions« in der Rue de la Victoire 111, Brüssel

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Envisioned as an apartment sized ‘stilleben’ the group show »Primary Functions«, displaying works of 5 artists, puts into question the functionality of the physical space. The primary function itself raises a question of whether the work is displaying something else than what it was meant for. In the works of Philip Poppek and Christiane Blattmann feathers and leaves are represented. Those - the ultimately functioning parts of both birds and trees are here isolated from the system in which they would naturally be operating. Feathers and leaves both form a pattern in the larger organism they are part of - in the works we’re looking at here, the patterns become autonomous and therefore the functioning of a whole system is being out into question. The kitchen is converted into a futuristic workstation, emitting brain enhancing sound frequencies, and displaying a colourful rotating brain scan of Antye Guenther in the video work “the upload”. Next to this, evolved plastic-based lifeforms by Ivan Pérard are being fried on the pan in olive oil, placed on the plates with garniture, subverting hereby the intended function of evolution by simply being available for consumption. It’s not a question of what it is, it’s a question of how to cook it. Contours of rails by Markus von Platen point through the rooms, and crosses the common rhythmical theme of room, doorway, room, by suggesting a bigger motion, reaching across the cozy domestic space, as a function-less obstacle in between. As so, a series of hinges by Christiane Blattmann themselves don’t open anything in the domestic scenery, but appears as butterflies and band-aids on the walls