Arteles Catalogue 2023-2020

Silence Awareness Existence program / MARCH 2023
Bert Jacobs
Belgium
www.jacobsbert.be
About
Space is something that I often think about in my work;
whether physical or the more mental. It has nothing to do with
functionality or surrealism, but more with one’s experiences
or memories, and its revival or visualisation. I’ll come across
certain things, and my first instinct is to try and capture it, to
register the phenomenal sight fully. We constantly take – or
at least, I do – so much for granted. So I like to put a focus
on one thing, which will then allow me to understand it better
somehow. In turn, the intention isn’t necessarily to make the
audience visualise or feel, but rather surprise them to look;
to notice, pay attention, and appreciate them more. Perhaps
that makes my work rather situationist.
Snow Vulcano
My time in Arteles was wonderful. I came with the idea of
focusing back on drawing and having some time to empty
my head, close previous chapters, and find new inspiration.
Instead, I found out that the landscape of the Finnish
countryside is truly beautiful, the ice lake and sauna are
very addictive, and the food at Frantsila is delicious. I made
friends from Taiwan, Croatia, and the US, and every single
one of them was very inspiring and fun. The Silent Awareness
Existence Program offered the chance to make the headspace
needed, and it activated me into playing with snow and fire.
This resulted in Snowvolcano, a pile of snow with a chimney
and a fire. The opposite of cold and warm, water and fire
come together in these sculptures. During the course of the
month, nature melted and shaped the Snowvolcanos in an
organic and surprising way.