Kristof Van Gestel

14.Feb.16
1.Dec.16

In 2016 gaat beeldend kunstenaar Kristof van Gestel (°1976) een jaar lang aan de slag als ‘Artist in Residence’ in S.M.A.K.

Under the banner ‘Participants wanted!’, Van Gestel invites visitors to actively participate in a creative process that explores ideas around authenticity, meaning, chance, the role of art, cultural participation, and the relationship between artist and viewer.

Kristof van Gestel’s artistic practice is distinguished by its open and participatory nature. Driven by a great curiosity about the ‘other’, the artist wants to investigate the possibilities of art as a means of encounter. Under the motto ‘Knowing by doing’, Van Gestel treats the experience of art as a form of ‘experiential learning’. He organises art projects and workshops for a broad audience. By allowing participants to help determine the outcome of his work, the artist sacrifices a part of his artistic autonomy. In doing so, he challenges not only the expectations of his audience but also his own.

Together with S.M.A.K., the artist is developing a longer-term participatory trajectory. For the museum, the invitation to Kristof van Gestel provides an opportunity to reflect on its own operations and role as an art institution. Van Gestel will not only conduct workshops with museum visitors but will also invite S.M.A.K. staff members to participate. In December 2015, Van Gestel already led a first workshop with employees from the public engagement team.

In February, the artist will begin his residency in the entrance hall of S.M.A.K. He will be present there with a ‘conversation piece’, a small sculpture that serves as a stimulus for conversations and personal encounters between the artist and passers-by. In a second phase, both museum visitors and staff members will be involved as a group in the artistic transformation of one of S.M.A.K.’s museum spaces. Van Gestel envisions a multi-purpose outcome that will open up concrete possibilities for various interventions and (inter)actions by and between participants and visitors of the project.

You are also welcome to participate!

Kristof van Gestel is also active as a lecturer and researcher.

Practical information

From 13:00 to 18:00 on each of the following dates: