A.I.R extension#01

We presented A.I.R extension#01 at ART Brussels (2006) as a one–man show for Koraalberg Gallery, Antwerp. The installation integrated a steel & wood construction and two video projections. Before the fair opened we were interviewed on National Public Radio. The interview became A.I.R extension#00.

“While projecting video footage of the refurbishment of their Brussels loft, Heiremans & Vermeir never show direct images of the spaces. They selected a series of stills from their raw video footage, which they re-shot in combination with projections of quotations from lifestyle, design and architecture magazines. The excerpts promote loft living as an ideal lifestyle, one that fulfills desires related to identity, status, freedom etc. Both video projections show the spaces as if they fold and unfold, appear and disappear in front of the spectator. The images give the impression of paging magazines filled with architectural reveries, a sensation that is underlined by the art fair context in which the work is being presented.” (Koraalberg Gallery text)

A.I.R extension#01(placard)

On the occasion of the presentation of A.I.R extension#01 the artists produced a multiple in the form of a placard. This placard appropriates the artist's own home (and future artist residency spaces) as an A.I.R space. It is also a reinterpretation of the A.I.R. placards artists in 60ies New York had to put on the doors of the abandoned warehouses they appropriated as their studios in order for the firemen to be able to find them. The success of the artists in their studios caused the spreading of a totally new living format, loft living, and its 'values' of freedom and transparency around the world. In the meanwhile the literal meaning of the abbreviation A.I.R. changed to connotate a nomadic and temporary working environment for emerging artists.

2006
a collaborative project of Katleen Vermeir and Ronny Heiremans
Video installation - Double projection 17’ looped – color, no sound
Module (2.4 x 2.4 x 2 m) – metal, wood, paper, mirror, plexi
First Presented at ART Brussels, 2006
coproduced by Koraalberg Gallery, Antwerp
Produced by Ltd.Ed.vzw

Multiple: A.I.R imprinted on backside of a license plate. Size: 18x14cm. edition of 20.