The context

The library in Zwijnaarde got a facelift and became a perfect location to integrate an artwork. An important starting point was the function of the library; words and stories from all over the world are gathered here. The artist, Christophe Fink, thought the geography and history of Zwijnaarde was interesting material to work with. The work consists of a timeline in natural stone, running through the whole building. It is made out of blue stone and consists of two orientation circles connected through a line. In doing so, Fink anticipates the spatial/temporal feeling of the visitors of the library and the future people waiting for the tram that will stop here. The choice for orientation circles, a wide view, is inspired by the research of the artist himself about the qualities of landscapes in general.

Christophe Fink

Christophe Fink (°1963) lives and works in Ghent and Brussels. He participated at various solo and group exhibitions, like for example in Witte de With, Rotterdam, and the Sao Paulo Biennial, Brazil. Christoph Fink calls his journeys by various means, by bicycle, train, and aeroplane or by foot, 'movements'. The in-between, the experiences between the point of departure and the destination of these journeys are of more interest than their objective. Journeys are processes of research, which pursue questions such as: What is happening to me physically and spiritually here and now? Whom am I encountering here and now? What image does the sky reveal here and now? These questions are answered at a specific point of time by handwritten notes, acoustic recordings or by computer statistics. The simultaneous and successive events overlap, become manifest on closely written, small slips of paper. Experiences in the countryside, in the city, in nature are witnessed by installations composed of photographs, drawings, diagrams and sculptures. As results of these 'movements', they form an inventory based on measurements and figures and they simultaneously formulate questions concerning the dimensions of time, space and the relationship of humans to their environment.