The work of the duo Gijs Van Vaerenbergh inevitably seeks to be framed within the fields of architecture or the visual arts, and yet neither seem fully satisfactory. Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh met during their architecture training, and have since worked within a more or less classical architectural environment. Immediately after their studies, however, they developed a parallel practice in which they applied their technical and theoretical know-how towards an experimental research that focuses neither on the ‘user’ nor on the production of autonomous images. The output of their research varies from works in the public space and architectural structures to sculptures and smaller works. Within this grey area, the duo has gradually developed a practice that thematizes the friction between function (architecture) and autonomy (the image), and that raises the question as to where the daily experience of space becomes aesthetic.

Text by Koen Sels