'Give Me Shelter' is an installation of 3 Corten steel card houses (290x180cm) arranged like a tent camp.
Motifs have been laser cut into the surfaces, inspired by the classic card deck with a logo in the middle each time. The logos refer to NGOs and aid organizations that provide shelter and assistance to refugees in tent camps. You can find their logos on tents, flags, food packages, wagons,....
'Give Me Shelter' is a multilayered work. On the one hand, the fragile house of cards stands as a metaphor for the situation of refugees; on the other hand, it refers to our Western society. We feel safe, we have it good, but this situation is also fragile. War, natural disasters or the effects of climate change are just a few aspects that can quickly collapse our world, our house of cards.
'Give Me Shelter' suggests protection but the laser cut motifs strip the sheets of their protective function.
When you shelter below you are exposed to nature's elements.
The playfulness of this work is in stark contrast to the underlying meaning.
© Vanstichel-Vandebos
Location: Zuidpark, off Museumstraat

Artists: Niko Vanstichel & Lut Vandebos