OV36
 “Form Follows Function”:
Marcel Breuer >< Anneke Eussen

OV Project is delighted to present Form Follows Function, its 36th project–a presentation of works by Anneke Eussen (b. 1978, Netherlands), and the titan of Modernist design, Hungarian-German architect Marcel Breuer (1902-1981).

The dialog presented in the exhibition unfolds firstly through the material considerations of each practitioner–communicating confrontations of forms, shapes, curves, and abutments of industrial yet sensuous connections. Subsequently evolving to address the temporal aspects evident in the juxtaposition, along vectors of sight, touch, posture and approach. The dialogics of lightness and strength frame the presentation. The artists’ respective deployments strategically facilitate a deterioration of the rationality that is part and parcel to industrial production–the subject of their meditations.

Grounded in early Modernist fascination with speed and progress, Marcel Breuer’s designs employ then-state-of-the-art techniques, resulting in modular, machine-like constructions entry into the domestic setting. His early works, designed and executed at the Bauhaus, typify the layering of industrial functionality atop of domestic usage–echoing fellow architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1908 quotation: “Form and function should be one, joined in spiritual union.”

Anneke Eussen’s sculptural constructions, converge on the wall with a sideways glance towards the Dadaist collage traditions. Working entirely with found materials, she searches for artifacts, here they are fragments of commercially produced glass. Discarded as having reached the terminus of their usefulness, they are resurrected as poetic objects of transcendence. The artist describes her practice as a cultivation of the found materials; an exploration of their narrative potential. She stops short of manipulating the silhouette of any given fragment in favor of subtler processes. Instead she relies on methods of arrangement, layering the pieces to formulate the pictureplane.

Breuer, while helming the woodshop at the Bauhaus, categorically disregarded the organic material. Inspired by his own bicycle, he famously ordered bent piping directly from the manufacturer to produce the ‘Wassily Chair’ (after Breuer’s instructor, Wassily Kandinsky), which resided in the lecturer’s lounge at the school. As if folding his disregard back on itself the chair went into production at Thonet–a company known to this day for popularizing bentwood furniture in the late 19th century. This momentum is echoed in the stance of his other chairs–the 301, 331 &c.–and the kinetic spring of the 1090 and 1093.

As much as Marcel Breuer’s bicycle propels us towards inevitably, the shattered contours of Eussen’s compositions glance retrospectively at traces, engaging with amorphous narratives—memories that cling like dust to a mirror. The works are deep reservoirs of energy expended, corroborating elusive histories: of light cutting through them, a multitude of contacts, from both humans and machines, a lens through which we view the world, together with a reflection of ourselves.

In each practice, objects dictate experience. They shape and link it to the wider world of functional design, through twists and turns towards the poetic, the personal, the transcendent. Harnessing energy, rendering coldness as warmth–the warmth of a body on a chair, the perspectival gaze into the abyss of the layers of history.

Marcel Breuer (b. 1902, Austria-Hungary, d. 1981, New York City) was a pioneering architect and designer of Modernism, particularly Brutalism and the International Style. In 1991, the New York Times regarded his chairs as some of the most important works of their kind produced in the 20th century. He was one of the earliest students of the Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar Germany, where he was in charge of the carpentry workshop, and studied under painter Wassily Kandinsky (for whom his most famous chair is named). Breuer emigrated to the United States in 1937 (naturalized in 1944), becoming a faculty at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, at the invitation of Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius. In the US he designed, among others, the IBM Research and Development Facility; the Whitney Museum of American Art (at 945 Madison Av.); the US Department of Housing and Urban Development; and St. John’s Abbey.

His archives are stewarded by the Syracuse University library, Syracuse, New York, and the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, Washington D.C, and New York City.

Anneke Eussen (b. 1978, Netherlands) is a contemporary artist living and working in Vaals, Netherlands. She graduated from the Academy of Maastricht, Netherlands, and completed a post-graduate residency at the Higher Institute of Fine Arts, Brussels. Her work has been the subject of solo exhibitions at Kunstverein Schwerin, Schwerin, DE; the Suermondt Ludwig Museum, Aachen, DE; Lauren Marinaro, New York, NY; Document, Chicago, IL; and Tatjana Pieters, Ghent, BE.

Big things cooking in the Q-O2 HQ lately (former residents and regulars will testify to the Q-O2 team’s love of talking recipes): preparations for the upcoming Oscillation Festival are in full swing (day breakdown and tickets per day will be available somewhere next week), and the first online tekhnē journal is also being vigorously crafted. But, there are other ongoing affairs in the meantime that may deserve your attention:

This Sunday, Lázara Rosell Albear is our guest for the 48th installment of our Second Sundays series, while later that day Suzan Peeters and Bao Sissoko play an improv set at VK Vaartkapoen, as part of the MUSIKAA/Klara Festival. Quite a while later, in May, the Showcase Emerging Sound presented together with STUK takes place: this year’s featured artists are Anouk Kellner, Pavel Tchikov, Lawrence McGuire and Kaat Vanhaverbeke. And, lastly, we’re happy to announce the arriving of the extended edition of Éliane Radigue – Intermediary Spaces / Espaces intermédiaires by Julia Eckhardt, which is again available at our space and via Les Presses du Réel. 

For its 48th edition, Second Sundays invites Brussels luminary Lázara Rosell Albear will play music “from Max Roach to Miles Davis, From AfroCuban Music to Japanese Music, From Aerea Negrot (RIP) to Mieko Suzuki, Sainkho Namtchylak and Amapiano to name a few…”
Second Sundays is a monthly series initiated by Q-O2. Each session a new guest is invited to share an insight into their own listening, playing and speaking about a selection of sound and music that is important to their thinking or practice. The sessions try to put value on listening to recorded music in a social setting as a space for discussion. The series takes place on the second Sunday of every month,. Each session is paired with a cocktail-of-the-month, as decided by the invited guest.

Cocktail of the month: Mojito

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Improv rendezvous

Accordionist Suzan Peeters and kora player Bao Sissoko bring their different musical worlds together in a concert in which improvisation, curiosity and the joy of playing are paramount. A project by Bozar in collaboration with QO2 and VK.
Full program of MUSIKAA at VK & tickets here.

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The 2024 festival Oscillation ::: Materia Forma is a reflection on form, format and performance. Six days of sound celebrations, featuring concerts, (in-situ) performances, a conference, round table conversations, a walk, and a series of workshops, hosted by VK Vaartkapoen in Molenbeek, and complemented with outings to B.A. in Anderlecht and the Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Molenbeek church. The complete line-up and breakdown per day will go online soon, as will the ticket sale for separate days. Festival passes are already available here.

Featuring:

Ahnjili Zhuparris, Ana María Romano G., Bojana Czević, Enrico Malatesta, Evicshen, Floris Vanhoof, Franziska Windisch, Giulia Rae, Jana Rush, Jaqueline Nova, Ji Youn Kang, Jonáš Gruska, Laura Mello, Lee Patterson & Pak Yan Lau, Liew Niyomkarn, Margarida Garcia, Michiko Ogawa & Lucy Railton, Nika Son, Nina Garcia/Mariachi, Rim Irscheid, Sandar Tun Tun, Shamica Ruddock & Hannan Jones, Tetsuya Umeda, Tom Malmendier & Emilie Škrijelj, Valentina Vuksic and more.

Each year, STUK & Q-O2 present a showcase of new sound art in Belgium. Four promising sound artists were selected and put in the spotlights: Anouk Kellner, Pavel Tchikov, Lawrence McGuire & Kaat Vanhaverbeke. They get residency space, artistic feedback and present their work in a parcours during the Showcase Emerging Sound 2024. Register here for free.

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This second extended edition of the book on composer Éliane Radigue adds a new chapter to the otherwise unchanged conversations which made the body of the first edition, published in 2019. The book is available at the Q-O2 workspace and via Les Presses du Réel. More information on the umland website.

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Project 36
 “Form Follows Function”
Marcel Breuer >< Anneke Eussen

Please, Save the Date.
The opening will take place on Saturday March 16 from 4 to 7pm.
More info coming up soon.

Upcoming at OV Project
OV37: Goro Kakei >< Carole Vanderlinden “Disorder, Transmission, Love in Silence”, opening April 24

Explore a diverse range of contemporary art at some of Ixelles’ finest galleries this March! 

From Tindara Spartà’s unique sculptures to gallery rodolphe janssen’s ‘Giants’ group show of miniature paintings, and Renaud Auguste Dormeuil’s enchanting tapestries : there’s something for everyone to enjoy ! 

The walk will start at Michel Rein where our guide will take you to discover the following galleries : EDJI, Bernier/Eliades, Michel Rein, TEMPLON, La Patinoire Royale Bach and rodolphe janssen. 

This Brussels Gallery Walk will take place on Saturday 2nd of March, in Ixelles from 2pm to 4pm.

Participating galleries : EDJI, Bernier/Eliades, Michel Rein, TEMPLON, La Patinoire Royale Bach & rodolphe janssen.

Book your guided tour (EN)* : 1h30 | 12€/person

*Should you wish to book your guided tour in another language, please reach us at  

GALLERIES