Global Worries Local Fun? This is the question that artist Pieterjan Ginckels investigated during a residency at cleantech hub Snowball.
Snowhoop is a sculptural installation/performance that explores the concept of ‘energy’ on the basis of basketball. Through the research question “Global Worries Local Fun” PJG wants to explore the interaction between the world of the game, the energy of the players (local fun) and the broader societal questions around climate change (global worries). How can gameplay help creating awareness about climate change and encourage local communities to take climate action? Can cleantech contribute to the development of more sustainable communities and cities? What gives you energy in life and which figures inspire you? Is cleantech like basketball accessible for all, including world’s underpriviledged peoples? Snowhoop is a sculptural installation consisting of two elements: a mobile basketball ring on the one hand, and a ‘jumbotron’ with four screens on the other hand. At first glance the installation, in the entrance hall of cleantech hub Snowball, is somewhat reminiscent of a gameroom of a tech company in Silicon Valley. But the clumsy, do-it-yourself way the objects are made immediately reveal that this is a typical PJG. The installation is no exception to the practice of the artist who appropriates cultural objects and status symbols from Western culture and critically reflects on our approach to technology. His installations are not exact copies of real objects, but bastardized versions made out of simple materials; such as wood, plastic and cardboard. They are stripped by the artist into a naked, “dumb” state, changing their value and original meaning. Through an online survey — another appropriation by the artist — PJG investigated which masterminds, moments, things and words that inspire the cleantech community (residing companies, employees, customers of Snowball etc.). The results of the survey are combined with motivational fitness quotes (FITSPO) and artistic references that inspire the artist. Snowhoop is not only a sculptural object, but also a vehicle for performances. As in previous works by PJG, the participation of the public is needed to complete the work, in this case by playing a game of basketball. The mobile basketball ring is programmed to measure the gameplay and ‘energy’ of its players. How this is measured remains hidden, but what can be said is that the gameplay has a direct impact on what we see on the jumbotron and the music coming from the JBL boombox. A hit or a miss, familiar or not with the rules of basketball, it doesn’t matter, because the participation and energy of the players is what matters. The installation is not a depiction of innovative technology, but a work of art in relation to the world, confronting the time in which we live. In this way the installation evokes not only reactions and discussions about technology, but also about philosophy, our aspirations, the condition humaine and the driving force behind human motivation. Snowhoop explores the concept of ‘energy’ in the broadest sense of the word. It not only focuses on alternative energy sources, but also on our energy/mindset as one of the greatest forces we have to stimulate change. The work is on the one hand a parody of the start-up culture and our belief in technology, but also a sincere thought exercise in how we can take concrete action around global challenges such as climate change.
GLUON and Cleantech hub Snowball have joined forces in 2019 as Regional STARTS Centre. In this context, they have invited artist Pieterjan Ginckels for the development of a new artwork that is the result of a collaboration between the artist and the experts of the Smappee company.
ABOUT PIETERJAN GINCKELS
“Our lives are hyper-real, and we feel the urge to continuously pimp, remix, recollect our own identity,” says Pieterjan Ginckels. “As such, I see myself as an embedded outsider, playing with ambivalences in speed and authenticity.” The Belgian artist’s work concerns itself with the acceleration of modern life and he demonstrates this through exhibitions and experiences that interweave spatial, artistic and design practice, and everything in between. Performative in nature, Ginckels received attention for his installation PISTE, a velodrome within a museum, and S.P.A.M. Office, a surreal office environment dedicated to finding order within the detritus of electronic communication. (ICON Magazine, ‘Future 50,’ 2013). Ginckels’ work can be found in the permanent collections of Mu.ZEE (Ostend), Museum Voorlinden (The Hague) and ING Belgium, and have been shown at ANDOR (London), BOZAR (Brussels), The Graham Foundation (Chicago), Onomatopee (Eindhoven), Beaufort Triennale, Bucharest Biennale and NAK (Aachen), among others. In 2011 Ginckels received the Young Belgian Painters Award 2011, Center for Fine Arts (BOZAR), Brussels.
