A.I.R extension#19 (The Residence-single screen)

The Residence (a wager for the afterlife) (2012) exists both as a single channel video and as a video-installation. The single channel was presented at Manifesta 9 Limburg in 2012 and at the 13th Istanbul Biennial in 2013. The video focuses on the artist as entrepreneur in a global society that qualifies the economy as the single measure of things. In more than one way the video relates to Goethe’s Faust, part II, in which the writer presents Faust as a project developer. Conceived during an extended artist residency in China (2009-10), the project initiated a collaboration with a Chinese artist/architect, Ma Wen. Sharing insights with him on the concept of creative clusters, Vermeir & Heiremans documented his practice as cultural producer in China, and later on continued filming with him in Belgium.  Apart from Ma Wen the video project features two fictional characters. One is Hilar, a very wealthy investor who commissions the Chinese architect to develop a house for his afterlife. Through Hilar a world of economic fetishism opens up. The other is a rather allegorical character. She is referred to as Lady Credit. Enveloping a dozen roles, all of them performed by one actress, she appears not only as assistant in Ma Wen's office but also as the embodiment of all women in Hilar’s world, her multiplicity aligning with the financial market’s shiftiness.

click here to watch the full length video on Vimeo

The Residence (a wager for the afterlife) 2012 

Single channel video, 37 min. 

Format: HDV / Language: Chinese, English / Subtitles English, Chinese / Image: color / Ratio: 16:9 / Sound: stereo

A project by Katleen Vermeir & Ronny Heiremans in collaboration with Ma Wen, Justin Bennett, Amir Borenstein, Mieja Hollevoet, Salome Schmuki, Karlijn Sileghem, Wim van der Grijn, Carly Wijs. Photos: Kristien Daem.
A Limited Editions production supported by Flanders Audiovisual Fund and the Flemish Community. Coproduction: Argos (Brussels), C-Mine (Genk), Cultuurcentrum (Bruges), deBuren (Brussels),Extra City (Antwerp), FLACC (Genk), Manifesta 9 Limburg (Genk) and Triodos Fonds. Research support: artist residencies in China CEAC (Xiamen), TIM (Beijing).

At Manifesta 9 the single channel video was accompanied by 'In-residence Magazine' (scroll version) presented on a 14 m long table. Table display: wood, metal, perspex. Dimensions 67 x 90 x 1408 cm