FEUILLETON SEASON 2 – A procedural exercise in public space

Historically, public space has been the pre-eminent place for artists and photographers to work, and a subject that has been captured and appropriated extensively. The photographs and images we see in public space, however, are most of the time functional, and more specifically commercial in nature: advertising which catches the eye via the omnipresent billboard. The seminar FEUILLETON appropriates such a device and takes shape as an intensive collaboration between researchers, students and the art collective 019.

019 is located in the Oude Dokken in the north of Gent, where a former industrial zone is quickly turning into a residential area. Images play a dubious role in this transition. The photorealistic, 3D-rendered images of the future public space that circulate in the current streetscape offer a glimpse of a future that is lush green, trafficless and summery. From unlikely points of view, a not very diverse group of passers-by and residents is shown in an immaculate, urban setting: a strong, visual narrative of the future landscape.

A rotating billboard is mounted to the facade of the former welding factory that 019 occupies. From that location-specific context, and with the tension between images and public space as the subject, a visual story for the billboard takes form, based on procedures that the billboard imposes. The billboard shows three images, whereby, each week, the oldest image is replaced by a new one. A FEUILLETON unfolds.

By: Ava Darvishi, Arnout De Cleene, Michiel De Cleene, Steffi Haeck, Thieu Kessels, Ferre Kinne, Lars Kwakkenbos, Margot Olieslagers, Sabrina Seifried, Loïc van Weyenberg, Armangul Zeken

Part of the master seminar FEUILLETON, @schoolofarts Gent, at and with @019, 2023.

Part of the research project ‘On Instructing Photography’ at KASK & conservatorium, Gent.

This project is made possible by the generous support of @canonbelgium. All prints made with a Canon imagePROGRAF TM-200 on Canon water-resistant self-adhesive matt polypropylene.

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