Brussels, one hour and thirty-three minutes past mid-day: Jurgen is cutting paper, turns the music on, and is annoyed as the speaker is not working properly. Meanwhile, Christoph is taking pictures of the sunlight “climbing” Jurgen’s new work.
The evening before, Christoph arrived at the studio where they had dinner, eating from plates imprinted with the Pope’s image. The evening ended in the gay streets with drinks and weird stories on Instagram. Now, they want to go to Place Jeu de Balle.
Isn’t it too early?
Not today, during the week it’s tamam.
At noon, they leave the studio and turn left. It’s a ten minute walk from Jurgen’s studio to Jeu de Balle.
Place Jeu de Balle is a square in the heart of Brussels which functions as a flea market. Junk dealers from everywhere gather and sell old furniture, books, clothing and more; seven days a week from 8 am to 2 pm. Afterwards, the dealers clean up their spaces and leave objects that were not sold or are broken for free on the square, before road sweepers come to clean it up. Within this time slot, when the objects are available for free at Jeu de Balle, the square turns into an anarchic battlefield where some real treasures can be found next to junk, packages and broken leftovers.
Jurgen is pretty good in finding these treasures, while Christoph is just taking pictures.
Thirty-seven minutes later, they meet at a bar on the corner for a trente-trois. It was not the most successful day, but Christoph shot some good pics and Jurgen found a bizarre green hat.
And now?
While looking for a narrative, both brains go into different directions.
Take the trash, put it on the wall and call it art.
We’re done with that, aren’t we?
You’re right, it has undergone complete digestion…
"DER MAGEN EUROPAS"
Jurgen Ots and Christoph Westermeier,
documentation DAINDIEFRONT, Düsseldorf, 2020
The evening before, Christoph arrived at the studio where they had dinner, eating from plates imprinted with the Pope’s image. The evening ended in the gay streets with drinks and weird stories on Instagram. Now, they want to go to Place Jeu de Balle.
Isn’t it too early?
Not today, during the week it’s tamam.
At noon, they leave the studio and turn left. It’s a ten minute walk from Jurgen’s studio to Jeu de Balle.
Place Jeu de Balle is a square in the heart of Brussels which functions as a flea market. Junk dealers from everywhere gather and sell old furniture, books, clothing and more; seven days a week from 8 am to 2 pm. Afterwards, the dealers clean up their spaces and leave objects that were not sold or are broken for free on the square, before road sweepers come to clean it up. Within this time slot, when the objects are available for free at Jeu de Balle, the square turns into an anarchic battlefield where some real treasures can be found next to junk, packages and broken leftovers.
Jurgen is pretty good in finding these treasures, while Christoph is just taking pictures.
Thirty-seven minutes later, they meet at a bar on the corner for a trente-trois. It was not the most successful day, but Christoph shot some good pics and Jurgen found a bizarre green hat.
And now?
While looking for a narrative, both brains go into different directions.
Take the trash, put it on the wall and call it art.
We’re done with that, aren’t we?
You’re right, it has undergone complete digestion…
"DER MAGEN EUROPAS"
Jurgen Ots and Christoph Westermeier,
documentation DAINDIEFRONT, Düsseldorf, 2020
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