LAb(au)
Encyclopedia
LAb[ au] is an artist group founded 1997 in Brussels
, Belgium
with the aim to examine the influence of advanced technologies in the forms, methods and content of art
. Members are: Manuel Abendroth, Jérôme Decock, and Els Vermang. Former members were: co-founder Naziha Mestaoui (until 2000), Grégoire Verhaegen (until 2003), Pieter Heremans (until 2006) & Alexandre Plennevaux (until 2009).
From the name 'LAb[ au] ' one can read in ‘LAB
’ (standing for an experimental approach) and ‘BAU’ (ger. = construction / providing a link to Bauhaus
) both a reference to the group's approach to work.
its members and projects are concerned with the construct of ‘space
’ and the way it can be planned, experienced and conceptualised in an information age
. The attention lies in the relation between architecture, light
and advanced technologies
.
The projects of LAb[ au] deal with processes
and system
s based on different rules. This method is determined by the technological and artistic parameters
and qualified by the artists as metadesign
.
and practice motivated the group to found the gallery 'MediaRuimte' in the city centre of Brussels in 2003. The gallery work stands for LAb[ au] 's typical function as a collaborative art agency as for a trans-disciplinary work, being expressed through a program ranging not only over exhibitions
, screenings
and audiovisual
performance
s, but also to conferences
, artist-residencies
and workshop
s. Featured artists range from Manfred Mohr
to Nicolas Schöffer
, Casey Reas, Limiteazero and Frank Bretschneider
to Mika Vainio.
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
with the aim to examine the influence of advanced technologies in the forms, methods and content of art
Art
Art is the product or process of deliberately arranging items in a way that influences and affects one or more of the senses, emotions, and intellect....
. Members are: Manuel Abendroth, Jérôme Decock, and Els Vermang. Former members were: co-founder Naziha Mestaoui (until 2000), Grégoire Verhaegen (until 2003), Pieter Heremans (until 2006) & Alexandre Plennevaux (until 2009).
From the name 'LAb
Laboratory
A laboratory is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. The title of laboratory is also used for certain other facilities where the processes or equipment used are similar to those in scientific laboratories...
’ (standing for an experimental approach) and ‘BAU’ (ger. = construction / providing a link to Bauhaus
Bauhaus
', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...
) both a reference to the group's approach to work.
Laboratory for Architecture and Urbanism
With a background in architectureArchitecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
its members and projects are concerned with the construct of ‘space
Space
Space is the boundless, three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction. Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum...
’ and the way it can be planned, experienced and conceptualised in an information age
Information Age
The Information Age, also commonly known as the Computer Age or Digital Age, is an idea that the current age will be characterized by the ability of individuals to transfer information freely, and to have instant access to knowledge that would have been difficult or impossible to find previously...
. The attention lies in the relation between architecture, light
Light
Light or visible light is electromagnetic radiation that is visible to the human eye, and is responsible for the sense of sight. Visible light has wavelength in a range from about 380 nanometres to about 740 nm, with a frequency range of about 405 THz to 790 THz...
and advanced technologies
Technology
Technology is the making, usage, and knowledge of tools, machines, techniques, crafts, systems or methods of organization in order to solve a problem or perform a specific function. It can also refer to the collection of such tools, machinery, and procedures. The word technology comes ;...
.
The projects of LAb
Process (computing)
In computing, a process is an instance of a computer program that is being executed. It contains the program code and its current activity. Depending on the operating system , a process may be made up of multiple threads of execution that execute instructions concurrently.A computer program is a...
and system
System
System is a set of interacting or interdependent components forming an integrated whole....
s based on different rules. This method is determined by the technological and artistic parameters
Parameter (disambiguation)
A parameter is a quantity which changes characteristics of a system or a function. The term is used in this way in many mathematical sciences.The term may also have the following meanings:* Parameter...
and qualified by the artists as metadesign
Metadesign
Metadesign is an emerging conceptual framework aimed at defining and creating social, economic and technical infrastructures in which new forms of collaborative design can take place...
.
MediaRuimte
This alliance between theoryTheory
The English word theory was derived from a technical term in Ancient Greek philosophy. The word theoria, , meant "a looking at, viewing, beholding", and referring to contemplation or speculation, as opposed to action...
and practice motivated the group to found the gallery 'MediaRuimte' in the city centre of Brussels in 2003. The gallery work stands for LAb
Art exhibition
Art exhibitions are traditionally the space in which art objects meet an audience. The exhibit is universally understood to be for some temporary period unless, as is rarely true, it is stated to be a "permanent exhibition". In American English, they may be called "exhibit", "exposition" or...
, screenings
Film screening
A film screening is the displaying of a motion picture or film, generally referring to a special showing as part of a film's production and release cycle...
and audiovisual
Audiovisual art
The exploration of kinetic abstract art and music set in relation to each other.Visual music, abstract film, audiovisual performances and installations.- See also :* Abstract film* Color organ* Experimental film* Sound art* Sound installation* Sound sculpture...
performance
Performance
A performance, in performing arts, generally comprises an event in which a performer or group of performers behave in a particular way for another group of people, the audience. Choral music and ballet are examples. Usually the performers participate in rehearsals beforehand. Afterwards audience...
s, but also to conferences
Academic conference
An academic conference or symposium is a conference for researchers to present and discuss their work. Together with academic or scientific journals, conferences provide an important channel for exchange of information between researchers.-Overview:Conferences are usually composed of various...
, artist-residencies
Artist in residence
Artist-in-residence programs and other residency opportunities allow visiting artists to stay and work so that they may apply singular focus to their art practice....
and workshop
Workshop
A workshop is a room or building which provides both the area and tools that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods...
s. Featured artists range from Manfred Mohr
Manfred Mohr
Manfred Mohr is a digital art pioneer. He has lived and worked in New York since 1981.-Life & career:...
to Nicolas Schöffer
Nicolas Schoffer
Nicolas Schöffer was a Hungarian-born French artist. He can be considered as the father of cybernetic art. He was born in Kalocsa, Hungary and resided in Paris from 1936 till his death in his Montmartre atelier in 1992. His career touched on painting, kinetic sculpture, architecture, urbanism,...
, Casey Reas, Limiteazero and Frank Bretschneider
Frank Bretschneider
Frank Bretschneider is a German electronic musician. He works primarily with sine waves and white noise as his source material. He also releases material under the name Komet....
to Mika Vainio.
Exhibitions
- 2010 Kunst-Station Sankt Peter Cologne, GER
- 2009 BOZAR Centre for Fine Arts Brussels, B
- 2008 Itaú Culturál São Paulo, BR
- 2007 Club
/ TransmedialeClub transmedialeThe annual CTM Festival festival is a music and visual arts event held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1999, the festival originally focused on electronic music, but has since evolved to cover a wide range of genres under the banner "festival for adventurous music and related visual...
Berlin, GER - 2006 TENT. / Witte de With Rotterdam, NL
- several times Centre Georges PompidouCentre Georges PompidouCentre Georges Pompidou is a complex in the Beaubourg area of the 4th arrondissement of Paris, near Les Halles, rue Montorgueil and the Marais...
Paris, FR - 2004 SónarSónarSónar is an annual three-day music festival held in Barcelona, Spain. It is described officially as a festival of Advanced Music and Multimedia Art. Music is by far the main aspect of the festival....
Barcelona, ES - 2003 New Museum of Contemporary ArtNew Museum of Contemporary ArtThe New Museum, founded in 1977 by Marcia Tucker, is the only museum in New York City exclusively devoted to presenting contemporary art from around the world...
New York, US - 2003 Art Center NabiArt Center NabiArt Center Nabi is an art museum in Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea.Since its opening, Art Center Nabi has actively promoted new media arts in Korea. Exploring new possibilities of creation, education, and exhibition of media arts, Art Center Nabi has been in the forefront of the convergence of art...
Seoul, ROK - 2002 ICAInstitute of Contemporary ArtsThe Institute of Contemporary Arts is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. It is located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch...
London, UK - several times BauhausBauhaus', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...
Dessau, GER - 2000 LouvreLouvreThe Musée du Louvre – in English, the Louvre Museum or simply the Louvre – is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. A central landmark of Paris, it is located on the Right Bank of the Seine in the 1st arrondissement...
Paris, FR - 1999 Ars ElectronicaArs ElectronicaArs Electronica is an organization based in Linz, Austria, founded in 1979 around a festival for art, technology and society that was part of the International Bruckner Festival. Herbert W. Franke is one of its founders. It became its own festival and a yearly event in 1986. Its director until 1995...
Linz, AU
Artworks/Projects
- 2009 Framework f5x5x5
- 2009 Chrono Prints
- 2009 SwarmDots
- 2008 Binary Waves
- 2008 Who's afraid of Red, Green & BlueRGB color modelThe RGB color model is an additive color model in which red, green, and blue light is added together in various ways to reproduce a broad array of colors...
? - weather.tower (on Dexia TowerDexia TowerThe Dexia Tower is a skyscraper located in the Northern Quarter central business district of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, Brussels, Belgium. It owes its name to its current tenant, the bank Dexia...
) - 2007 PixFlow#2
- 2007 spectr
[ a] um (on Dexia Tower with Limiteazero, H. Lippmann, O. Bender & F. Bretschneider from raster-notonRaster-NotonRaster-Noton is a German electronic music record label founded in 1996 by Olaf Bender, Carsten Nicolai and Frank Bretschneider. Based in Chemnitz, Germany, Raster-Noton merged in 1999 from separate labels Rastermusik and Noton .The collective label's aesthetic focus is rhythmic, minimal electronic...
and the Balanescu QuartetBalanescu QuartetThe Balanescu Quartet is an avant-garde string quartet founded in 1987 by Alexander Bălănescu that achieved fame through the release of several complex cover versions of songs by German experimental electronic music band Kraftwerk on their album "Possessed"....
) - 2007 Who's afraid of Red, Green & Blue? - chrono.tower (on Dexia Tower)
- 2006 Touch (on Dexia Tower)
- 2006 EOD #02 (with Frederik de Wilde)
- 2006 12m4s
- 2006 PixFlow#1
- 2005 point, line, surface computed in seconds
- 2005 liquid space book
- 2003-07 liquid space (with many artists ranging from Marius Watz to Frank Bretschneider, Holger Lippmann & Lev ManovichLev ManovichLev Manovich is an author of new media books, professor of Visual Arts, University of California, San Diego, U.S. and European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland, where he teaches new media art and theory, software studies, and digital humanities...
) - 2003-05 Man in e.Space (with Marc Wathieu, res publica, Marianne Descamps & Claudia Miazzo)
- 2001-... sPace Navigable Music
External links
- Official Website: lab-au.com
- MediaRuimte, LAb
[ au] 's gallery for electronic arts in downtown Brussels: mediaruimte.be - Publication in Creative Review Magazine about the work of LAb
[ au] March 2008 -
[ DAMBerlin profiling the work of LAb [ au] ] - LAB[au] interview on Digital Art Mag (2010, p 38-48): http://www.digitalarti.com/files/ebooks/digitalarti_mag_3.html