The M-residency of Chantal van Rijt & Maud Gourdon

The cooperation between the artists Chantal van Rijt and Maud Gourdon arose from a shared interest in structures and generative processes for creating visual and spatial narratives. They each have their own visual language: Chantal van Rijt works with photography, objects and installations, Maud Gourdon with drawings and sculptures. When they are combined, new storylines and narratives emerge.

Coded languages

During their residency in the M-space, Maud Gourdon and Chantal van Rijt work around ideas of coding and decoding. The artists investigate the linguistic structures of different code and symbol languages. They then translate these into a new formal language. That way, they try to uncover communication mechanisms and semantic shifts that result from a translation

In code languages (simple or complex), the units that make up a code (letters, numbers, characters...) are not considered conventional means of communication. These units seek to be 'more'. Each combination or series represents a bundle of energy and includes a multitude of data and a multitude of meanings. This makes it difficult (if not impossible) to translate them into our own common language properly. Code languages challenge our way of understanding language and our way of communicating.

M-residenten Chantal van Rijt & Maud Gourdon — M Leuven, foto: Eva Donckers

In their research, the artists look at the act of translation itself: what does it mean to take something or someone out of its context? Van Rijt and Gourdon see translation as an ambivalent environment where nothing is what it seems and where everything is constantly in transformation. The act of translation is defined by a back and forth movement of contraction and expansion. Going back to the origin of a word and/or to compile a list of synonyms is a crucial part of approaching the specific meaning. By playing with the density of language, the artists liberate it from meaning and make patterns appear. They question the way we receive language, as well as the communication that occurs in between

Studio visit

The M-residency of van Rijt and Gourdon took place in the space at Cas-co from November 2019 until March 2020. During this period, they were coached intensively and conducted conversations with various curators. There was also space for the production of new work.

Brussels. She obtained a Master of Fine Arts in photography at KASK in Ghent and has previously exhibited at Bredaphoto, International Film Festival Rotterdam, 019 and In de Ruimte in Ghent. Van Rijt received the Mathilde Horlait-Dapsens Prize in 2017 and the Mondriaan Stipendium for Young Talent in 2019.

https://www.chantalvanrijt.com/

Maud Gourdon lives and works in Brussels. She obtained a Master of Fine Arts at KASK in Ghent. She has previously exhibited at Kiosk in Ghent, Beige in Brussels and Le Transpalette in Bourges. Gourdon was selected for the 2017 Friends of S.M.A.K. Prize.

https://www.maudgourdon.com/

More about the concept of the M-residency