DESIGN MUSEUM GENT

Amongst collections of well known and unknown classic design pieces there are a couple of exhibitions of works by the artist Maarten Baas. I did feel these were more art installations rather than elements of design but it did fit well with the museum that displays items in a more eclectic way. The museum is split into two distinct sections; the old historic town house with panelled rooms, period paintings, fire places etc. and the modern white box extension. Some of the modern furniture pieces displayed singly in old brown rooms were very theatrical as below.

White Poly Chair by Max Lamb.

The Maarten Baas installation called Real Time was about time and our perception of the display of time in the form of 'clocks'. I use the term clocks loosely as all the elements in the installation were video displays of time being continuously formed. The artistic works constantly evolving. Does this sound confusing? It was. At first you have no idea what is going on. A series of quite eccentric grandfather clocks have the faces removed and a video screen put in its place. Each minute the hands are rubbed out from behind and the hands drawn in for the next time minute. All keeping good time.

Six minutes to four.

The following elements of the exhibition were a series of screens displaying a person at a desk rubber stamping a clock face onto a pad of paper and then pencilling the hands of the clock to the correct time. He then waited and at the end of the real time minute tore off the paper, screwed it up, threw it away and restamped and redrew the next time. All very accurately.

Ten minutes to four.

I think my favourite was a video looking down from a height of 2 men sweeping rubbish on a large flat surface. The way they constantly swept always configured the rubbish to tell the exact time.

Seven minutes to four.

It all must have taken ages to enact and film. Perhaps they had too much time on their hands! Interesting concepts. Well worth a visit.