The Sustainist Gaze of photographer Kristof Vrancken
The Sustainist Gaze | 12.06 - 22.08.21
As a photographer and activist, Kristof Vrancken (Belgium, 1982) is in search of an ecological and sustainable artistic practice. For the first time in over seven years, he presents his varied artistic investigations in The Sustainist Gaze.
“I am an activist. I do not climb on barricades but engage in activism through my artistic practice.”
Vrancken (BE, 1982) is a protagonist of the growing ecological and climate awareness movement in the arts. How can you be activist and constructive as an artist, instead of merely registering things and being critical? How do you not just show an alternative gaze but also convert it into specific acts? These questions are center-stage in his artistic practice.
The Sustainist Design Movement
The title The Sustainist Gaze refers to The Sustainist Design Movement, which proposes a method for sustainable design. Sustainist Design is a plea for a positive change in the field of sustainability in design. Vrancken translates these principles into his photography: he works with natural materials instead of the highly chemical polluting products of analogue photography.
Photography with berries and plants
The photographer experiments with, for example, emulsions of algae, berries, and knotweed, and he uses sunlight to develop his photographs. This slow, craft-based way of working is a response to today’s accelerated culture and the fleetingness of images. By making prints with the help of plants, nature is present in the image, even literally so. Vrancken transcends classical photography and integrates other disciplines such as design, new media, and science into his practice.
“For years I have been fascinated by photography, design, biology, ecology, and philosophy. By combining these various interests, I suddenly discovered quite a few new opportunities to tell my story. This story, the unifying theme of my artistic research, is resistance against the current state of the earth – against the indifference of its inhabitants, and in particular the unwillingness, if not refusal, to explore alternative, more sustainable ways of dealing with our world. We need more imagination and new technological and scientific insights to deal differently with our planet earth.”
About the artist
Kristof Vrancken (BE, °1982) is a Limburg-based photographer and researcher at LUCA School of Arts (Genk). Here he focuses on experimental photography and hybrid media. Since 2015, he has been working on The Sustainist Gaze, his artistic PhD, in which he develops new methods and strategies in the search for an ecological and sustainable artistic practice. The exhibition in Z33 is his first major solo presentation.
Practical information
The Sustainist Gaze: 12.06 - 22.08.21
Curator: Ils Huygens
%2C%202021%2C%20Z33%2C%20Hasselt.%20Foto%20door%20Boumediene%20Belbachir.jpg "Kristof Vrancken, Hunger of The Pine (detail), 2021, Z33, Hasselt. Photo Boumediene Belbachir.")
Kristof Vrancken, Hunger of The Pine (detail), 2021, Z33, Hasselt. Photo Boumediene Belbachir.
Kristof Vrancken, Hunger of The Pine I, 2021, Z33, Hasselt. Photo Kristof Vrancken.
Kristof Vrancken, Hunger of The Pine I, 2021, Z33, Hasselt. Photo Kristof Vrancken.
Kristof Vrancken, Hunger of the Pine III, 2021, Z33, Hasselt. Photo door Boumediene Belbachir.%2C%202021%2C%20Z33%20Huis%20voor%20Actuele%20Kunst%2C%20Design%20%26%20Architectuur%2C%20Hasselt.%20Foto%20door%20Boumediene%20Belbachir.jpg "Kristof Vrancken, NIMBY (detail), 2021, Z33, Hasselt. Photo Boumediene Belbachir.")
%2C%202021%2C%20Z33%2C%20Hasselt.%20Foto%20door%20Boumediene%20Belbachir.jpg "Kristof Vrancken, Mourning (detail), 2021, Z33, Hasselt. Photo Boumediene Belbachir.")
%2C%202021%2C%20Z33%20Huis%20voor%20Actuele%20Kunst%2C%20Design%20%26%20Architectuur%2C%20Hasselt.%20Foto%20door%20Boumediene%20Belbachir.jpg "Kristof Vrancken, Rauw (detail), 2021, Z33, Hasselt. Photo Boumediene Belbachir.")
Kristof Vrancken, Rauw (detail), 2021, Z33, Hasselt. Photo Boumediene Belbachir.
Kristof Vrancken, Algaetypes, 2018, Z33, Hasselt. Photo Boumediene Belbachir.2%2C%202021%2C%20Z33%2C%20Hasselt.%20Foto%20Boumediene%20Belbachir.jpg "Kristof Vrancken, installation view Hunger of the Pine II, 2021, Z33, Hasselt. Photo Boumediene Belbachir.")
