Ives Maes

Hazard Marking System

Ives Maes' Recyclable Refugee Camp, a group of biodegradable objects, tackles the ethical imperative that encourages art to intervene in the world, localizing the epicenter of a new utopia inside the boundaries of the art world itself Ives Maes' Recyclable Refugee Camp, a group of biodegradable objects, tackles the ethical imperative that encourages art to intervene in the world, localizing the epicenter of a new utopia inside the boundaries of the art world itself Ives Maes' Recyclable Refugee Camp, a group of biodegradable objects, tackles the ethical imperative that encourages art to intervene in the world, localizing the epicenter of a new utopia inside the boundaries of the art world itself Ives Maes' Recyclable Refugee Camp, a group of biodegradable objects, tackles the ethical imperative that encourages art to intervene in the world, localizing the epicenter of a new utopia inside the boundaries of the art world itself Ives Maes' Recyclable Refugee Camp, a group of biodegradable objects, tackles the ethical imperative that encourages art to intervene in the world, localizing the epicenter of a new utopia inside the boundaries of the art world itself

Enamel, steel

Different sizes and variations

2006 / 2009 / 2010

CONTENT

In recent years Ives Maes work has centered on his Recyclable Refugee Camp project, an ironic attempt to create an absolutely ethically correct work of art. Ives Maes tries to formulate a tangible response to the hyper-ethical tendency in the art world. He extends this tactic of exaggeration as he enters the controversy over anti-personnel mines. In response to this issue, Ives Maes devised a biodegradable landmine: the SIMON anti-personnel landmine, which casing and entire mechanism is made of organic polyesters that dissolve after a certain period of time. They could be called ‘human-friendly’ weapons, since they protect civilians against the psychological effects of prolonged fear. Mine clearance would become a thing of the past. The money saved could be used for development aid.

Excerpt from the text ‘SIMON anti-personnel mines’ by Beatrijs Eemans, 2006

PROJECT

With his RECYCLABLE REFUGEE CAMP project, Ives Maes probed the derailment of contemporary hyper-ethics. His latrines, wells, shelters and coffins, fabricated in a natural resin, raise ethics to a manic state. The Recyclable Refugee Camp tackles the ethical imperative that encourages art to intervene in the world, localizing the epicenter of a new utopia inside the boundaries of the art world itself.

Excerpt from the text ‘An economy of truth’ by Wim Peeters, published in Flash Art nr. 235, 2004

EXHIBITIONS

 

The Greenery Line

SMAK, Ghent, Belgium

08/04/06 – 04/06/06

Curated by Philippe Vancauteren

Solo exhibition

Installation view by Dirk Pauwels

 

Simon

Brigitte Weiss Galerie, Zürich, Switzerland

20/10/06 – 16/12/06

Solo exhibition

 

Emergency Biennale

Istanbul Biennale, Istanbul, Turkey

04/09/07 – 06/11/07

Curated by Evelyne Jouanno

Adel Abdessemed, Dennis Adams, Maria-Thereza Alves, Francis Alÿs, Sylvie Blocher, Mark Boswell & Anton Kozlov, Santiago Caicedo, Cao Fei, Jota Castro, Paolo Chiasera, Hubert Czerepok, Allan De Souza, Marta Deskur, Jimmie Durham, Seamus Farrell, Alfredo Jaar, Neeme Külm, Gabriel Kuri, Ken Lum, Juan Pablo Macias, Ives Maes, Gilda Mantilla, Ahmet Ögüt, Jüri Ojaver, Lucy Orta, Damian Ortega, Adrian Paci, Römer + Römer, Julian Rosefeldt, Nedko Solakov, Pascale Marthine Tayou, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Urban Subjects, Anton Vidokle, Cesare Viel, Luca Vitone, Yang Fudong, Zheng Guogu, etc.

 

Colossal

Landschaftsverband Osnabrücker land, Osnabrück, Germany

15/05/2009 - 31/12/2011

Curated by Jan Hoet

Monica Bonvicini, Pedro Cabrita Reis, Fernando Sanchez Castillo, Wim Delvoye, Wilfried Hagebölling, Anna Lange, Ives Maes, Yue Minjun, Dennis Oppenheim, Andreas Slominski 

 

The woods that see and hear

Stichting Dertien Hectare, St-Hertogensbosch, The Netherlands

30/05/2010 – 11/07/2010

Curated by Sarah Farrar

Eduardo Abaroa, Eve Armstrong, Melanie Bonajo, Kinga Kielczynska & Emmeline de Mooij, Marjolijn Dijkman, Bright Ugochukwu Eke, Tue Greenfort, Jonathan Horowitz, Ives Maes, Tea Mäkipää, Nick Mangan, Heather & Ivan Morison, Overtreders W.