Fienne Platteeuw

The Belgium artist Fienne Platteeuw has made a new sculpture for this exhibition. With her piece she wanted to make the public interact with her piece. Fienne made a hollow cube out of wax of 60cm. (I liked its tactile surface, somehow reminded me to Joseph Beuys’s). The cube was placed on a low stand with four wheels; under it, there was a movement sensor. By the side a strong lamp stood quietly with the light off.
At the opening night the public began arriving to the gallery. As soon as someone was in the surroundings of the piece, the sensor registered the movement and consequently the light turned on. The lamp will be on as long as the person(s) is standing in that very place.
The wax melted under the hit: the longer the interaction with the public, the more the “destruction” of the piece. She likes to say it that way. To me, I don’t see it as a destructive process, but as an intervention of the people in to the shaping of the sculpture. I find it interesting: the public could choose where to stay longer or shorter near the piece, but not where the lamp was standing, neither could be expected/contralloed the way that the wax would melt and later solidify.
By the end of the exhibition the cube had significantly changed its shape. And there was wax all over the floor.

Nayra