Podcast

This episode is a recording of the conversation between Vinciane Despret and Denis Gielen about the work of Orla Barry, Irish shepherdess and artist, on the occasion of the exhibition Shaved Rapunzel & la Petite Bergère Punk at the Musée des Arts Contemporains in Grand-Hornu. 

During this conversation, Vinciane Despret shares her thoughts on the profession of shepherdess and the special relationships that Orla Barry establishes with her sheep. Invoking in turn Philippe Descola, Bruno Latour, Donna Haraway, Etienne Souriau and Jakob von Uexküll, she questions the links between art and the profession of shepherd, the “becoming with” of breeders and their sheep, as well as on the possibilities that humans have to converse with animals.

This episode features a recording of the lecture given by Alexander Streitberger, Professor at the Université Catholique de Louvain and Director of the Lieven Gevaert Research Centre, on the occasion of the exhibition dedicated to the work of German photographer Jochen Lempert at the Musée des Arts Contemporains in Grand-Hornu.

Born in 1958 in Moers, Germany, Jochen Lempert first trained as a biologist. In 1979, he co-founded the Schmelzdahin group, which made experimental films exploring the processes of decomposition of celluloid film. From the late 1980s onwards, Jochen Lempert devoted himself to photography. Using very simple means, he pursued a meticulous and poetic practice in which he captured the slightest details of the nature around him in black and white.

In this talk, Alexander Streitberger explores the links between film, photography, biology, the natural sciences and aesthetics in Jochen Lempert's practice.

An unclassifiable artist with a complex practice, Angel Vergara is back with us for this interview about what has always been present in his work: exchanges from daily life interpreted as poetic acts and the space of the painting which is being produced. He also discusses Straatman, or “street man” in English, an alter ego which he uses to set up his studio in the midst of everyday life. 

In this episode, we meet Luc Tuymans (1958, Belgium). 

For Démêler les pinceaux, Luc Tuymans revisits Saint-Georges, a painting completed in 2015 which is held by the Museum of Contemporary Arts at Grand-Hornu. Avoiding a literal interpretation of the myth of Saint George, Luc Tuymans provokes a mise en abîme and invites spectators to question their own role when confronted with the work. In this interview, the artist also discusses his relationship with the creation of images, and the place of painting in contemporary art. 
 

In this episode, we met up with Laurent Busine (1951, Belgium).

Laurent Busine is the founder and honorary director of the Museum of Contemporary Arts at Grand-Hornu. For the 20th anniversary of the museum, he has accepted to curate the anniversary exhibition, Les Fabriques du coeur et leur usage. Whilst explaining the origins of the exhibition and what he would like to convey to the visitors, he offers an insight into the role of curator and the reflections which the works inspire.