"I am interested in 'Swamp Thing', detective series, Pokémon hunters, science fiction literature and 'Killer Tomatoes'. They depict a universe in which nature is active and where new possibilities lie." (Gosie Vervloessem, 2023)
The Horror Garden (2018)
Gosie Vervloessem's audiovisual installation The Horror Garden (2018) was acquired by the community of Flanders in 2022 and is on long-term loan to the Middelheim Museum.
The artwork is conceived as an investigation wall: a large wall on which investigators in detective and crime series pin the pictures, documents and thoughts that help them in their investigations. The artist guides the viewer along a series of 'evidence', through a story that questions the relationship between plants and people. Vervloessem uses the strategy of a detective (the sick detective) who tries to use evidence to make connections that reveal a hidden reality. This working method makes the work playful, relatable and hands-on; the detective unmasks a layered and multiple reality that we sometimes, conveniently, hope is black or white, right or wrong.
On long-term outdoor display for the first time at the Middelheim Museum, the work formed the basis for the next collaboration in her research-driven practice on 'more-than-humans' (non-human carriers of meaning).
The Pleasure Garden (2023)
Gosie Vervloessem began her Artistic Research Project (ARP) using the same fictional character 'The Sick Detective' as The Horror Garden (2018). She uses a kind of auto-fiction in which she identifies herself as The Sick Detective: a sleuth who involves the plant kingdom as an ally in her investigation. Her strategies 'lying fallow' and 'cruising' are employed in order to thoroughly explore the landscape and the artworks within it.
She now applies the research from The Horror Garden (2018) to the Middelheim Museum site. What principles and ideas become visible in the art park? What place can an artist occupy in the complex tangle of nature and culture? What happens when nature is not just the background, but takes the lead role itself? What place can art have in relation to nature, and vice versa? What stories come up when you lie down in the grass without expectations?
On the ventilation shafts of the Craeybeckx Tunnel, a tunnel full of toxic exhaust fumes, The Sick Detective mutates into a Toxic Detective. The Detective meets a number of allies on her wanderings through the art park: stories from the history of this park landscape, extraordinary works of art such as 'The Sower' by Constant Meunier, but also mysterious inscriptions carved into trees. These elements, along with some texts selected by the artist, form the content for a polyphonic reading group. Together they write a new story about, with and ín this landscape: The Pleasure Garden (2023).
The result is an augmented reality (AR) virtual tour that visitors can experience on their mobile device or smartphone from autumn 2023. The artist derived the augmented reality and use of a smartphone in the art park from the popular Pokémon GO computer game that is played in abundance at the Middelheim Museum.
Experience The Horror Garden (2018) and The Pleasure Garden (2023) at the museum!
From 29 October to 31 December 2023, you can discover Gosie Vervloessem's two artworks in the art park.
In The Horror Garden (2018), let the artist take you in tow in her audiovisual installation. Or explore for yourself in The Pleasure Garden (2023): this digital artwork with augmented reality (AR) and the artist as virtual guide will lead you through the art park in a surprising way. View the landscape of the Middelheim Museum from a different angle. What new stories are hiding behind the trees, plants and sculptures?
In November, you can also participate in one of two unique public sessions where the artist will activate The Pleasure Garden (2023) in a live performance:
On 4 November 2023: artist tour with Gosie Vervloessem (more information to follow)
On 11 November 2023: artist tour with Gosie Vervloessem (more information to follow)
The artist will also bring both artworks together on a double-sided poster. You can take those home for free. That way, you can bring the ethical questions raised about plants and humans to your own windowsill, backyard or urban wilderness. How do you deal with introduced invasive species yourself, for example? And what can you do out of love for a tree?
A queer perspective on the Middelheim Museum
In The Pleasure Garden (2023), Vervloessem looks at the landscape at the Middelheim Museum from a queer perspective. Queer is seen here as 'the potential for the other' and as a strategy separate from result-oriented or (re)production-oriented creation.
Particularly for research-driven art practices, such as those applied by Gosie Vervloessem, this link to queer makes sense: the artist conducts this research independent of any predetermined expectation, ambition or final product.
Viewing nature through a queer perspective also offers an alternative view of nature averse to the economic process of (re)production and natural selection. Is everything in nature focused on procreation? Or is there also room for experimentation, play and 'pure pleasure'?
In rethinking and depicting a new relationship between humans and nature, the artist seeks precisely to break free from categorisation and patterns of power. As such, she hopes to germinate a seed bomb of stories that influence our view of nature in a more inclusive way.
Credits
The Horror Garden
Concept and development - Gosie Vervloessem / Sound recording and editing - David Elchardus / Sound mastering - Reda Senhaji / Poster design - Joud Toamah / Print and print advice - Gerard Leysen/Afreux
Part of Collection Middelheim Museum
The artist wishes to thank wpZimmer, De School van Gaasbeek, Pieter Boons, Veerle Meul, Luk Lambrecht, Sara Weyns, the park and … and all human and non-human agents who helped out along the way.
The Pleasure Garden
Concept and development : Gosie Vervloessem
Curator : Pieter Boons
With thanks to A.pass, wpZimmer, KWP and the Middelheim Museum team
Augmented Reality App on site: Technical developer - Oscar Tulkens Godspear Games / Sound recording and editing - David Elchardus / Technical supervisor - Laurent Delom / Dramaturgy and outside eye - Einat Tuchman, Laurent Delom, David Elchardus / Animation - Nemo Tescou (head of animation) - Keerth Vignarajah and Annelise Cerchedean MaxLab/Immersive Lab / Cinematics - Joan Peralta
Artist poster: Design and conceptual development - Joud Toamah / Print and print advice - Gerard Leysen/Afreux / AR: development - Oscar Tulkens Godspear Games, sound - David Elchardus, technical supervisor - Laurent Delom, scanning - Keerth Vignarajah /MaxLab/Immersive Lab
Reading group: Lotte Vrancken, Ooooo, Laurent Delom de Mézerac, Jori(k) Galama
Tumba, Sadrie Alves, Toamah Joud, Einat tuchman, Renata Turkes, Maïté de Haan, Marion Wasserbauer, Pieter Boons, Eline Declercq
Dramaturgy and production - Einat Tuchman
Catering - Latifa Saber and Hafsa Elazzaoui (Baya Collective).
Book selection and Bookmarks: design - Joud Toamah
With the support of A.pass
Public Moments: Production and mediation - Ian Coomans, Danny Debruyne, Rafaëlle Lelièvre, Erik Rombaut, Ine Vermeylen, An Roels / Thanks too Alina Kneepkens, Danny Neyman, Einat Tuchman / Catering - Latifa Saber and Hafsa Elazzaoui (Baya Collective)
