Propositions pour un monument
Propositions pour un monument (platform n.02)
A project by Globe Aroma led by brothers Frank (architect) and Roel Kerkhofs (visual artist) in collaboration with newcomers in Belgium and local residents of a little square that has no name in 1060 Saint-Gilles, Brussels.
8 August – 30 September 2011
On the square (unnamed), formed by the intersection of the seesaw street, the Willem Tell street, the Gisbert Combaz street and the Vorstsesteenweg, 1060 Brussels.
Starting August 8, we began working on the construction of a square-filling structure as a pedestal for an imaginary monument. Through a permanent on-site presence and activity, we looked for special moments that we bundled bi-weekly into a ‘moment monument’. In this process, the pedestal was always the link between the square, the user and the event.
In all, there were 5 moment memorials, each of which was slightly more important than the daily operation on the site, and were therefore officially and festively inaugurated each time.
Moment monument n.01,
‘Laying the foundation stone,’ Sunday, Aug. 14 at 3 p.m.
‘Dotez nous d’un passe,’ Wednesday, Aug. 24, at 8 p.m.
Moment monument n.02
‘Dotez nous d’un passe’, Wednesday, Aug. 24 at 8 p.m.
The grown structure or pedestal will be partially wrapped and become the support for the projected images that will accompany the lecture by historian Roel Jacobs. Roel Jacobs will speak on the square that evening about the comings and goings of certain monuments in the city of Brussels.
Moment monument n.03
‘Turn it upside down’, Wednesday, Sep.7 at 1 p.m.
A second structure is added and will cast a colorful stain on the square for a very short time that day. Ramadan is over. There will be a meal together in the square.
Moment monument n.04,
‘L’union et l’utopie’, Thursday, Sept. 22 at 4 p.m.
A third construction rotates with the wind and acts as a “disperceur de son. A montage can be heard of people talking about the neighborhood, the square and the construction.
Moment monument n.05,
‘Burgerlijke Schemering’, Friday, Sept. 30, at 7 p.m,
with a run-through of all previous moment memorials:
- Turn it upside down (n.03) at 1pm:
The solar pot is lifted into the air. - Dépose de la première pierre (n.01) at 3pm: The first structure will be taken down block by block and distributed as souvenirs to the project’s bystanders and participants.
- L’union et l’utopie (n.04) at 4pm: The third structure will be unlocked and rotate with the wind while the neighborhood speaks through speakers.
- Burgerlijke schemering (n.05) at 7pm: The apotheosis. At 7:33 p.m. Bengal fire and volcanoes replace sun and wind.
- Passé composé (n.02) at 8pm: The street lights slowly light up just as the fire quietly dies out. Party in the square with a mix of invited guests and local residents.
In the meantime, everything on site has disappeared. All visual material (video, photo, sound as well as construction) was processed to end up as a residue, a physical thing that tries to give shape to the memory of the project.
Conté Morlaye, newcomer from Guinea, was the drawing reporter during this project. He drew the daily scenes of the growing construction and the passage and participation of various people and children.
In collaboration with PTTL, a selection of his drawings have been brought together as numbered individual stencils in a publication. These illustrations also prompt a collection of texts annexed to the publication.
