Town Square Project II is a collaborative project under the artistic conceptual direction of Wilfried Pulinckx and the organisational direction of Jo Foulon (director of the Academy Art Tienen), commissioned by the city of Tienen/Tirlemont in Belgium. They were asked to develop a work of art in the public space where the existing tiles had been replaced by a patch of cement. A market square is one of the most public spaces a city has where all sorts of different activities take place. Reason number one for me to make it a participatory project with students from the Art Academy in Tienen.
In the first place The Town Square Project is a collaborative project with different growth phases. We recognise and see the added value of collaborations with different groups and the possible synergies arising from it.
In the first place The Town Square Project is a collaborative project with different growth phases. We recognise and see the added value of collaborations with different groups and the possible synergies arising from it.
The concept was to make a very large colored pattern consisting of some 400 hexagonal tiles (about 50 cm in diameter), which are woven into different layers of color. The first phase was an educational introduction in the classroom: an inspirational slideshow about the design of repetitive motifs within a hexagon. Following that encounter, two groups of students worked on their own designs for several weeks until approximately 50 different abstract designs were created. Later these abstract designs were transformed into templates. The tiles mainly consist of abstract motifs, all part of the larger project or 'carpet' (16 meters x 4.5 meters).
With great care, the students designs were digitized, enlarged and lasered using a laser cutting machine at Fabermakerspace in Antwerp.
The large colorful pattern symbolize diversity and variety. Everyone can come from anywhere on a market square, both literally and metaphorically.
With great care, the students designs were digitized, enlarged and lasered using a laser cutting machine at Fabermakerspace in Antwerp.
The large colorful pattern symbolize diversity and variety. Everyone can come from anywhere on a market square, both literally and metaphorically.
My sources of inspiration for this project were diverse.
A significant role in the conceptual part of this project is my passion for color, patterns, repetitions, interferences between grids, layers and the approach of visual perception as an active dynamic process (in which the position of the viewer becomes significant in the reading of the image).
In South India I saw a lot of drawings, temporary geometric designs on the ground — on the paths in front of the houses — they inspired me a lot. They are known as Kolams, made of rice flour, usually done by the woman, every single day.
In its repetition, geometry and complexity, there is great freedom in creating geometric patterns. It is Hindu belief that Kolams are a symbol of auspiciousness.
Geometry aesthetics in Islamic art inspired me as well; their metaphysical origin. I found that it was thanks to the contributions of scientists, astronomers and mathematicians through the centuries that geometric ornamentation has developed to such an exceptional level in Islamic art.
A significant role in the conceptual part of this project is my passion for color, patterns, repetitions, interferences between grids, layers and the approach of visual perception as an active dynamic process (in which the position of the viewer becomes significant in the reading of the image).
In South India I saw a lot of drawings, temporary geometric designs on the ground — on the paths in front of the houses — they inspired me a lot. They are known as Kolams, made of rice flour, usually done by the woman, every single day.
In its repetition, geometry and complexity, there is great freedom in creating geometric patterns. It is Hindu belief that Kolams are a symbol of auspiciousness.
Geometry aesthetics in Islamic art inspired me as well; their metaphysical origin. I found that it was thanks to the contributions of scientists, astronomers and mathematicians through the centuries that geometric ornamentation has developed to such an exceptional level in Islamic art.
The Town Square Project is also an aesthetic statement for more color in our cities and public spaces, as well as the possibility to experience joy. Maybe we could create buildings, cities and environments to experience more joy.
During my reflection upon this project I came across ‘The Aesthetics of Joys’ by renowned designer Ingrid Fetell Lee below. She found out that there’s a part of each of us that finds joy in the same things, she saw patterns in the things that gives us joy.
‘Round things, pops of bright colors, symmetrical shapes, a sense of abundance and multiplicity, a feeling of lightness or elevation. They are really important, because they remind us of the shared humanity we find in our common experience of the physical world. We can access joy through tangible physical attributes, or what designers call aesthetics, a word that comes from the same root as the Greek word “aisthomai”, which mean “I feel”, “I sense”, “I perceive”.’
During my reflection upon this project I came across ‘The Aesthetics of Joys’ by renowned designer Ingrid Fetell Lee below. She found out that there’s a part of each of us that finds joy in the same things, she saw patterns in the things that gives us joy.
‘Round things, pops of bright colors, symmetrical shapes, a sense of abundance and multiplicity, a feeling of lightness or elevation. They are really important, because they remind us of the shared humanity we find in our common experience of the physical world. We can access joy through tangible physical attributes, or what designers call aesthetics, a word that comes from the same root as the Greek word “aisthomai”, which mean “I feel”, “I sense”, “I perceive”.’
‘Where is our love of colour coming from? I found that some researches see a connection to our evolution. Colour, in a very primal way, is a sign of life, a sign of energy. And the same is true of abundance. We evolved in a world where scarcity is dangerous and abundance meant survival. Deep within us, we all have this impulse to seek out joy in our surroundings. And we have it for a reason. Joy isn’t some superfluous extra. It’s directly connected to our fundamental instinct for survival. On the most basic level: the drive toward joy is the drive toward life.’ Ingrid Fetell Lee - Ted Talk, where joys hide and how to find it
