Catalogue > At random

This document is an exploration of the Belgian art scene. It shows a series of conversations, with an informal, subjective mapping of the scene as a backdrop. In the conversations, questions are approached through the specificity of peoples' own trajectories: their practical, artistic or social paths, how such trajectories shaped certain practices and how these practices connect to the biotope of the art scene within its contemporary societal and political context. In preparation of the film numerous people were asked the question which persons, places or practices are important for them. We asked every interlocutor to suggest new interlocutors, so that every conversation generated new conversations. We let ourselves be guided by the suggestions we received, resulting finally in a varied assortment of interviewees. The notes for the informal preparatory conversations became the set for the film: they were drawn up on the walls, creating a haphazard, subjective mapping. The set functions as a performative space, as the interviewees are immersed in this unruly apparatus which they begin to correct, add on to, disagree with and debate

Philippine Hoegen is an artist living in Brussels. Her multi-stranded practice engages with issues of objectness and personhood, through the notion of versioning: How we create different versions of ourselves, the processes and technologies we use for that and what the existence of those multiple versions means for our understanding of self. Her work consists primarily of performance and performative interventions or events. She is researcher at CARADT, Avans University, NL; teacher at AKV St Joost, Breda and on an irregular basis mentor at apass, Brussels. Recent activities include: "Being as Becoming", a residency / exhibition and collaborative research project at Onomatopee, Eindhoven (2018); "Ventriloquists III", solo performance, at Plymouth University in the SAR conference Artistic Research Will Eat Itself and at the University of Twente in the conference Narrative Matters (2018); "Crossed Wires", a film commissioned by and launched at Art Brussels (2018); "The Many Machine", a performative collaborative event at AKV St Joost, Breda (2018). Recent publications include: "Ventriloquists III", a contribution to Proceedings 9th SAR Conference: Artistic Research Will Eat Itself (2018); "Body of Books: The BAS Collection", essay on the artists' run space BAS in Istanbul, published by Collectorspace, Inc, New York/Istanbul (2017).