Ives Maes

P.R.I.V.A.C.Y.

The 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 The 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 The 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 The 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

Cardboard, paint

158 x 118 x 3,5 cm

Edition of 100

2006

Content

Ives Maes presents a further part of the Recyclable Refugee Camp project, entitled P.R.I.V.A.C.Y. at the Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst. His point of departure here was the realisation that in Europe the emergence of spontaneous refugee camps can be observed, above all, in churches, where people flee in fear of deportation as a result of the strict European asylum laws. In order to guarantee these people the right to privacy laid down in article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and in the spirit of aspirations he laid down himself, Maes has developed a simple insert-system consisting of punched cardboard elements which are cheap to produce and transport and are recyclable. They thus enable refugees to easily construct private living spaces in keeping with the size of their family and at the available place. P.R.I.V.A.C.Y. at the Ludwig forum is just one possibility among many. Maes also integrates the sculpture The Couple (1978) by the artist John de Andrea from the Ludwig collection into his installation.

Excerpt from the text ‘P.R.I.V.A.C.Y.’ by Melanie Bono, published in ‘After Cage, 24 collections in motion’, DuMont Literatur und Kunst Verlag, 2007

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

EXHIBITION

After Cage, 24 Collections in Motion

Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst, Aachen, Germany

24/09/06 – 26/11/06

Curated by Melanie Bono

Edgar Arceneaux, Mark Dion, Olafur Eliasson, Pieterjan Ginckels, Frank Hesse, Ives Maes, Ingrid Mwangi, Maria Roosen, Klaus Weber, Pablo Zuleta Zahr, Christof Zwiener

Installation view by Achim Kukulies

 

Roofing

Koraalberg Gallery, Antwerp, Belgium

25/01/07 – 10/03/07

Solo exhibition