Arts Centre Vooruit, Ghent, Belgium

A crash between two large wooden cars in the middle of the Vooruit Café.
This image by German artist duo Kaltwasser and Köbberling offers a perfect summary of the exhibition at the game is up. Nothing screams pollution and consumption more than cars do, while wood stands for nature, sustainability and recycling.
All through the Vooruit building you can discover an exhibition with sculptures, installations and videos by artists who are all – to a varying degree – concerned with current global issues.

MOOSE
(quay Scheldt, rear of the Vooruit building)

Moose, a.k.a. Brit artist Paul Curtis, could be considered the ecologic and sustainable answer to street artist Banksy. Moose is a graffiti artist who shuns paint and aerosols. He brightens dirty city walls with a soap solution and patterns, bringing the most amazing landscapes to life. He calls his work “reverse grafitti: a completely ecologically driven guerrilla style operation.” Moose will arrive in Ghent a few days before the start of the festival to get to work in its streets. He’ll make his biggest drawing on the quay at the rear of the Vooruit building.

KRISTOF KINTERA – Revolution
(Theaterzaal hallway)

Kristof Kintera is the enfant terrible of the Czech art world. He openly criticizes the economic expansion of former Soviet regimes and consumer society. Due to his bizarre and provocative sculptures he is often labelled “the Czech Damien Hirst”. He was also involved in the controversial piece Entropa by Czech artist David Cerny. Its clichéd depiction of the 27 EU member states caused quite the row.

Kintera uses everyday objects and places them in an unusual context. Or what to make of an electric knife penetrating a melon? But there’s more: peel off the humorous and confrontational top layer and you will find harsh social criticism underneath. In the 2006 installation Revolution for example, you see a child repeatedly banging its head against a wall. An extremely confrontational image, expressing emotions such as fear, despair, loneliness, frustration, and hopelessness.

KALTWASSER & KÖBBERLING – Crushed Cayenne / Autos zu Fahrrädern
(Café / Wintertuin)

It will be difficult to ignore Crushed Cayenne, the work by this German artist duo. Two crashing wooden cars will sit in the middle of the Café. With this piece, the duo denounces the increasing popularity of polluting SUVs. Recycling varied materials in their work is Martin Kaltwasser and Folke Köbberling’s – cynical – answer to throw-away capitalist society.

If you thought this was wacky, then wait till you see their Autos zu Fahrrädern: two bicycles assembled from the material of one car. The duo will bring these bikes to Ghent… by train. After they take them for a ride through Ghent, the bicycles can be admired at the exhibition, together with documentation material. They also plan a city intervention with car condoms.

Crushed Cayenne, commissioned by Club Transmediale / Autos zu Fahrräder commissioned by steirischer herbst/hda graz 2008

ANTOINE SCHMITT – Time Slip
(Café)

Antoine Schmitt plays with present, past and future in Time Slip; a news ticker that manipulates incoming news by transferring it to the future. Thus, “A plane crash in Madrid killed 153 people” becomes the ominous “A plane crash in Madrid will kill 153 people”. The work gives rise to feelings of discomfort, fear and powerlessness. Schmitt confronts the viewer with the control – or lack thereof – over his own fate in a universe where time and cause have become unstable concepts. The news ticker will get a place in our Café, where it will be supplied with a permanent feed of fresh news.

FOAM
(Brugzaal)

A biodegradable lab where scientists, artists and experts occupy themselves with patabotany, guild-gardening, involving plants in videogames and fiction or communication with plants and man-plant interaction? Does it sound unfamiliar? Then make sure to pass by the Brugzaal, where FoAM will introduce you to a world where art and ecology come together. You can also browse the elaborate library FoAM will bring along. Interventions, lectures, presentations and actions will regularly take place, and you can get advice about solar panels or taste the vegetable snacks… Take a look at the schedule.

In a society that is dominated by social unrest, climate issues and an urge for consumption, Brussels-based organisation FoAM is a haven for all those who are looking for creative solutions for these complex problems, by offering workshops and doing research. Some members of FoAM will talk about their work at a FrictiesSalon, a talk with Vooruit programmer Eva De Groote.

FoAM will also release seed bombs in Ghent. These are clumps of earth containing seeds of plants that used to grow in these parts, but have died out. Moose will drop the bombs on a few random places in the city: on the pavement, between bricks, at the water’s edge… With the first rain, the mud will be washed away, allowing the seeds to find their way through the city. A little while later, tiny plants that had become a rare sight in the city will sprout.

ANGELO VERMEULEN – Biomodd
(Brugzaal)

Angelo Vermeulen is an artist, filmmaker, writer, DJ, gamer, scientist, and combines all these interests in his installation art. In the Brugzaal you will be introduced to some of his projects. In his Biomodd project, for example, he transforms computers into mini ecosystems! The heat that is generated by playing a game on the PCs creates a warm climate that allows the plants to grow. The modified PC casing will not be on show at the game is up! but you will get to see the work in detail on five big screens. Vermeulen is currently working on the follow-up of his project in the Phillipines, a process you will be able to follow in the Brugzaal thanks to live streaming.

ANNEMIE MAES / So-on – Politics of change
(Brug)

Annemie Maes has made a documentary wall with pictures, videos, and interviews she gathered during her field research at Barefoot College. In this Indian community, illiterate grown-up women are technically trained so they can personally provide their village with sustainable energy with the help of solar panels. Their knowledge could inspire the West to find solutions for current climate and environmental issues.
Annemie Maes is a member of the So-on collective, consisting of artists, filmmakers, activists and researchers. They want to confront the public with different views and try to stimulate the public debate on economic, political and cultural sustainability.

MICHEL DE BROIN – Shelter / Shared Propulsion Car / Keep on smoking
(Balzaal / Dansstudio)

A car that drives on its driver’s fat, a knot in a staircase, a waterfall from the second floor of an arts centre… Canadian artist Michel De Broin is not one to shy away from stunts. His work is full of symbolism referring to social, political, and ecological (power) systems. It makes for a stimulating clash between utopias and modern city life.
We’re happy to announce that De Broin immediately agreed to make a new piece for the game is up! He will make the installation Shelter from 36 old tables in the Balzaal: a place to take shelter when catastrophe strikes.

In the Dance studio you will find the sculpture Dead Star, an asteroid made from empty batteries, which symbolizes the transience and the wasting of current energy sources. You will also be able to see the video diptych Shared Propulsion Car / Keep On Smoking, which sees de Broin diving into traffic with two strange vehicles, which leaves us wondering whether they are bikes or cars.

HEHE – Nuage Vert
(Dansstudio)

The artist duo Heiko Hansen and Helen Evans mobilized the entire city of Helsinki to save energy and to participate in art. During their Pollstream – Nuage Vert project they illuminated the cloud of smoke coming from a Helsinki power plant with a powerful green laser. The illuminated part of the cloud became bigger as inhabitants used less energy. At the game is up exhibition this project is documented with pictures, videos and posters. Hansen and Evans will talk about their work at a FrictiesSalon, a talk with Vooruit programmer Eva De Groote.

• Read the blog on Nuage Vert
• Watch film material of Nuage Vert

ANTOINE DEFOORT – La Fusée / Le vent dans les cheveux
(Dansstudio)

Video artist Antoine Defoort looks at mundane everyday life from a playful and refreshing angle. He plays with the contradictions between fantasy and reality, repeatedly strays from his subject and is more than happy to include mishaps. He makes funny short videos, two of which you can watch at the game is up exhibition: in La Fusée (2005) he takes his car on a trip through earth’s different layers. In Le Vent dans les Cheveux (2005) he finds proof for earth’s rotation. Defoort can also be seen in the absurd performance &&&&& & &&& with Halory Goerger.