Contact
cielgrommen@hotmail.com
Happy to be part of
Seasonal Neighbours , an art collective interested in cohabitation and seasonality in Europe’s countryside︎︎︎
Jubilee, an artist-led platform, supporting each other in developing artistic research practices︎︎︎
Areaal, an exchange platform on art in rural space, led by Plan B︎︎︎
Veldwerkers, an initiative to think about an alternative future for the terril of Winterslag, led by C-mine Cultural Centre
An artistic research practice
Critical, spatial and social
My artistic practice deals primarily with space. I am very interested in the ways we live together (in space), which is why the projects are strongly social and public in nature. I first studied architecture at KU Leuven (with a focus on urbanism) and am still very interested in its matters-of-concern. But I also did a master in fine arts at the HEAD of Geneve, where I really found a good way to embrace criticality and the possibility to include doubts and exchange in spatial practice.
Situated and attentive
As a methodology, I like to engage with particular contexts, to inhabit them and to interact with its inhabitants, to participate in activities, to understand its belief system and regime, learn about its narratives from the past and its longed futures... By spending a lot of time somewhere, I naturally enter into relation with it and others.
In the past I have been working in different extraterritorial spaces like Husn, a Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan, the DMZ in between North and South-Korea, and the freeports and warehouses of Geneva.
More recently I am attracted by space of production like fruit farms in Borgloon and Hoogstraten (Belgium), an automobile factory in Valenciennes (North of France), C-mine, a former mining site in Genk that is redeveloped (Belgium)...
E-ducational and imaginary
With my artistic gestures I strive to a form of understanding or awareness, that can be both the beginning of knowledge (it encourages to gain knowledge) and the result of it. The kind of knowledge I aim for, is not a knowledge that appeals to truth claims, but a knowledge that is embodied, situated and imaginary, that materialises other possibilities, new relations and underexposed perspectives.
Long-term & collective
I am not afraid of working in complex contexts where art is not evident, but I insist on being able to take time. I also like to collaborate with others, like the talented Maximiliaan Royakkers, Clémentine Vaultier, Maxime Brygo, and many more.
Please, don’t hesitate to invite me!
Trans-disciplinary or un-disciplinary
With a degree in architecture, a love for art, an interest in philosophy, an engagement in pedagogy, close relations with farmers and an urge for building (low tech) constructions, I consider myself an transdisciplinary amateur, professionally bridging disciplined perspectives, by reaching out to experts of different kinds and bringing them together in collaborative projects.
Institutional support
At this moment I am elaborating a pHd titled “The art of habitation in places of production” at LUCA school of arts (Ghent), in the research cluster Art, Pedagogy and Society. Within and beside this, I continue my artistic practice in close collaboration with other artists and artist platforms.
In the past, my artistic research projects have been hosted by C-mine Genk; Artsonje Art Centre, Seoul; Z33, centre for contemporary art, Hasselt; Travail & Culture Roubaix. Resulting works have been shown in the Vai (Flemish Architecture Institute) Antwerp (BE); Red Cross Museum, Geneva; 019 Ghent; Kunstenfestivaldesarts Brussels; Live In Your Head Gallery, Geneva...
Articles have been published in Oase journal, Metropolis M, De Witte Raaf, ...
Projects have been funded by the Flemish Government, De Buren, ...
