“THE DYNAMITE SHOW”

HERMAN TEIRLINCKHUIS

In Beersel, Koen Theys presents five models which were commissioned by the mayor of Beersel. The projects show art situated on a roadway aroundabout. Not without irony, Theys typically disposes trash cans and round-lamped streetlights on an immense base which makes one think of a cake. In addition to the models, there are numerous storyboards for recent videos. In these powerful drawings, the visitor can see how Theys works out his ideas.

The highlight of this exhibition is the video "The Dynamite Show." In the back room the visitor is confronted with an overwhelming wall of sound that conjures up ideas of war, fireworks or a violent thunderstorm - all at once. The film is simultaneously realistic and artificial, capable of stirring the viewer's deepest fibers without imposing any particular interpretation. Theys knows how to escape the gratuitous aspect of contemporary video art with work in which the intelligent editing of pre-existing pictures produces a realistic, terrifying and even 'delusional' visual language.

Luk Lambrecht – Contemporary Art in Belgium 2006
ed.: Stichting voor de Kunsten

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