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15/12/2011

Wannes Goetschalckx

Casino Luxembourg, Luxembourg

From 19 September until 17 December 2011, the Belgian artist Wannes Goetschalckx (*1978, lives and works in Antwerp)
has been resident artist at Casino Luxembourg – Forum d’art contemporain. The exhibition, Toothpick, in the “Aquarium” i
the fruit of his work there, and ends his stay.

The starting point for Wannes Goetschalckx‘s project was an immense poplar installed in the „Aquarium“ at Casino
Luxembourg, which was to be carved with his own hands into one toothpick. Since the beginning of his artist‘s residency
in September 2011, he has been harnessed to this colossal task.
Wannes Goetschalckx has literally measured up to the
tree, carving it by hand, layer by layer, without resorting to industrial tools. This creative act highlights the reverence of the
artist and the man, faced with the majestic force of nature, as much due to the physical energy used as to the investment
in time.

Working in the glass and steel pavilion of Casino Luxembourg, Wannes Goetschalckx made use of the transparency
in a specific way. Each and everyone was able to witness his endeavors. Although the artist is well-known for his per-
formances, his endeavors in Luxembourg cannot be defined as such because they are not at all event-driven. He was
devoted to this activity, and the sound effects of the various tools, his sweat, and tenacity were only requisits necessary
for this long-term job to be a success. The Toothpick project is a lengthy life experience.
Giving himself and all of his time to the project during his residency, Goetschalckx inscribed his feat within a logic which
defies the classic process of an artist‘s residency. This is normally divided into two equal stages: the residency in the
first stage, and the exhibition in the other. Here, the residency has worked according to a principle of bilaterality: the tree
consumes the artist‘s time for activity, and he, for his part, is „sacrificing“ the exhibition itself (until 8 January 2012) for the
sake of his residency.



A trace of the artist’s passage remained in the form of thousands of pieces of wood which attested to the presence of the
poplar as well as somebody assiduous enough to have parcelled it out in this way. The toothpick, under its bell, was sure to
evoke different feelings in each visitor. According to Wannes Goetschalckx, “Never before have I made such a small object
which says so much...”.

A publication about the project with texts by Guy Rewenig and Christine Walentiny is published at the beginning of 2012.


Press Preview: Vendredi, 16 décembre 2011 à 11 h 00
Opening: 17 December 2011, 11 a.m.

Casino Luxembourg
41, rue Notre-Dame - Luxembourg
Opening Hours:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Thursday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Saturday, Sunday and public holidays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Admission: Adults: 4 €, Reduced: 3 €

stampa

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