The title
of the project suggests an aspiration to porosity, integrating the
poly-functional character of our unconventional art space which, whilst opening
itself to renewed mental frames on the occasion of the exhibitions presented
here, remains a working and living space for its owner.

 

Zin
Taylor’s sculptural objects and installations, often fashioned with a sort of
bemused and slightly humorous distance, materialize concepts in a somewhat
contingent and casual way.  Whilst
taking the appearance and function of day-to-day objects (a monumental speaker,
lamps, incense burners  etc…),
they will stand out at first glance, in apparent contrast with the modernist
spirit of the architecture. But this contrast might be precisely the point,
addressing some fundamental issues raised by the aesthetics of modernism.
Indeed, one of the starting points of the project was, albeit subverting it somehow,
to translate the objective of Van de Velde and of architectural modernism to
conceive and apprehend architectural realisation as spaces allowing or even
fostering additional mental projections by their inhabitants/occupants.

 

This very
approach to architecture accounts for the deliberate neutrality of modernists
buildings, free from any decorative pre-determination. In this sense, theirs is
a formal vocabulary, which acts as a sort basic repertoire, to be activated and
re-injected with the subjective personal syntax of the occupants. In this
sense, we could also change metaphors, by apprehending a house as a portal made
of steel, brick, wood and stone, opening up into subjective, affective or
speculative worlds.

 

The passage
of years, with the distinctive and evolving occupation of a building by its
changing occupants (in the case of Maison Grégoire, there have been only two
waves of occupation, as it was bought by the present owner directly from Dr
Grégoire, who had commissioned Van de Velde) inevitably bring about changes,
which, although unavoidable and even desirable, sometimes make the initial
architectural project hardly readable. If this is not the case in Maison
Grégoire, the recent renovation of the first storey of the building has
currently reinforced the domestic character of the reception rooms of the
basement where the exhibitions usually take place.

 

Zin
Taylor’s narratives for his project originate from the intimate materials
present in the house, that is to say objects and belongings of the owner, and
will integrate the present decor, amplifying or subverting these sometimes
dissonant personal tracks, as if they were expansive portals of the mental
universe suggested by the interior.

A central
piece of his installation will be thus a sculptural loudspeaker-cum-sound
system, which will play ad libitum a selection of vinyl records from the
collection of the owner.

As often
the case in his work, the sculptural objects present in the show, far from
concealing them, ostensibly show the signs of the creative process and of the
artist’s dialogue with the matter.

As if to
underline the long, delicate process of the incarnation, the translation of
narratives, of a concept through an object.  As if to suggest that the translation of an original discourse
or idea, cannot be encapsulated but in an imperfect or approximate way.

 

Simultaneously,
they act as a sort of semantic portal by themselves, influencing, modelling and
giving shape to the idea that they are designed to convey with their own
materiality/physicality.

For the
shapes and materials chosen by Taylor seem to somehow resist any univocal
process of translation. They enhance the poetic potential of the piece by
detaining their own independence, as if, conversely, the creative process was
also an occasion to give a voice to the spirit of the matter. So let’s listen
and let’s do the same, let’s have seat and listen to some records.

 

Opening
on 26 March 2014,  6 30 [removed]

Exhibition
open on Saturdays, 2-6 [removed], 29/03-10/05/2014

 

Maison Grégoire

292
Dieweg

B
1180 Bruxelles

[removed]