"See-through"

31/05 – 06/06/2008

The multi-perspectives constructions of Fabian Luyten.

Fabian Luyten makes paintings, drawings and computer prints, models and pavilions. His art constantly finds itself on the crossroads of pictorial art, sculpture and architecture, but also contains elements of the scientific domains of geometry and linguistics. He won’t back away from contacting construction firms, architects or furniture manufacturers, not only as a means to intervene with his art, but also to design functional objects. This is a direct result of the essential characteristics of his art.

The Pavilions bring all the elements together from the smaller works; the play between lines, surfaces, shape, material and colour, the tension between real and virtual space, between two and three dimensions, the interactions and frictions between shape and construction, the dimensional differences between object, surroundings and spectator. These spatial constructions, meant for public spaces, add a few dimensions, or they are sensed more powerfully. The weight of physical experience of the construction is more direct than the mental equivalent.

This physicality gives the ideas of ‘inside’ and ‘outside’, ‘in front of’ or ‘behind’, a lager part in the whole; an idea that Luyten uses consciously.

Apart from the formal and the constructive, there is now also the functional that adds to the workings, the experience and the reading of the work. The complexity of these constructions is further enhanced by their large size: they are too big to be considered a model, and too small to be seen as a ‘house’. Openings and unclear ‘borders’ make a clear distinction between inside and outside nearly impossible. Every pavilion has at least one monochromatic, lacquered black panel integrated in the whole. This way the constructions remain linked to pictorial art and its modern history. At the same time these reflecting surfaces push the tension between real and virtual space, between surface, depth and volume to a higher level. In addition, the mirror inhabits the space where ‘looking at’ and ‘being seen’ meet, installing the distance between the individual and his image. A child will only start to recognise himself when it becomes aware of language, when it becomes a social being. It becomes a being that can no longer be reduced to one dimension, reality or truth.