The spiritual world is not clearly defined. Its existence can be completely denied or, on the contrary, situated out of reach, in a world beyond ours.

DEWEER gallery

Material Spiritual World with
Yehudit Sasportas, Georgina Starr and
Marnie Weber
18 September–23 October 2011

Opening:
Saturday 17 September 15:00–18:30

Curated by Filip Luyckx

DEWEER gallery
Tiegemstraat 6A
B- 8553 Otegem, Belgium
T +32(0)56 644 893
Open on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday,
from 14:00 to 18:00, or by appointment.
Closed on Monday, Tuesday and Saturday
www.deweergallery.com/exhibitions

The spiritual world is not clearly defined. Its existence can be completely denied or, on the contrary, situated out of reach, in a world beyond ours. It is impossible to agree on what we mean by the term 'spiritual,' let alone to discuss the subject consistently. Most of the time there is a task division between science—with its focus on the material world—and the spiritual domain. In order to be taken seriously, spiritual claims must not contradict science and reason. Nevertheless, there are several good reasons—even from a skeptical point of view—to have a continued interest in spiritual issues as a cultural phenomenon.

A lot of artists and philosophers have taken into consideration a spiritual dimension, which is related to deeply rooted psychological strivings. Paranormal phenomena also exist since the beginnings of mankind, only nowadays they look simple in comparison with the concepts about parallel universes elaborated by theoretical physics.

This show brings together the work of three very different artists dealing with the spiritual dimension. Rather than to express clear systems of (dis)belief, each work invites visitors to take part in a visual and mental experience. The work of Yehudit Sasportas (Israel / Berlin) combines science, mysticism and craftmanship. Abstract insights about the world are mirrored in multi-layered landscapes, illustrating ways of integrating both knowledge about contemporary physics and spiritual experience into the representation of nature. "The Lightworkers", a double-channel video projection from 2010, is one of her most elaborated video installations. Georgina Starr (UK) presents a new version of a sound installation based on an investigation entitled "I am the Medium". The work deals with fragmented voices of spirits recorded during seances with psychic mediums. The visitor is invited to experience them interactively and in a personal way. Marnie Weber (USA) will present her new film "The Eternal Heart" (2010). Translucent figures dance on a graveyard and then slide into a story resembling a silent movie. A girl is invited to overcome the demons from her past with the help of love. After a hallucinating dance and procession, she arrives in afterlife with all her monsters tamed.

Done. Finished.
Stefaan Dheedene

Coinciding with ‘Material Spiritual World’ we present ‘Done.Finished.’, our third solo show by Stefaan Dheedene (Belgium, 1975). The works in 'Done.Finished.' all arise from a repetition and reorganisation of extremely recognisable signs and objects. Although they were created separately, they come together in an exhibition structure that takes the form of a regulated apparatus, of a place that reminds us of an order. They distance themselves from the avantgarde credo of the unconditionally new. Here, art is treated as an interpretation, a disappointment, a translation, and, before anything else, a construction.

The process of repetition—as an artistic practice to which the aesthetic principles of chance, the incomplete and the irrational are crucial—also implies using the credit of thoughts that have condensed into ideas only recently. By dodging reality, imitation creates opportunities for reconsideration, thus becoming a mode of production in its own right.

At a given moment, the experiment is stopped by a finding, not an invention. Accordingly, the works in 'Done. Finished.' are not materialized ideals, but expressions of an ending. They are moments, in which the carefully constructed could collapse and turn into decay.

Photo: Georgina Starr, Theda (Act / The Séance), 2007–10.
Film still.