“Hans Wuyts (1978\u00b0) is an artist, jack of all trades and educator based in Antwerp. For this occasion Wuyts made Visser House: A Plan for the Past and the Future, a ceramic sculpture that depicts his vision for the ongoing renovations of the Visser house in Retie, Belgium. Wuyts himself grew up in the village of Retie, a town in the quiet campine (de stille kempen), where architect Aldo van Eyck built a villa in the early seventies. The octagonal house, inhabited by Geertjan Visser until his death in 2010, is surrounded by nature and vegetation. Many windows let in rays of sunshine that light up the wooden paneling. Geertjan Visser, art collector and cultural enthusiast, becomes some kind of mentor to Hans Wuyts. When the young sculptor shows him his latest work, Visser gives him names of artists to look into. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Visser House became Wuyts\u2019 dream house. Pursuing his studies, Wuyts moves to Antwerp and starts doing his thing within the city’s limits. When Visser died in 2010, a family member inherited the residence and restored the house to its original state. For the next thirteen years the new owners kept the house and garden in exceptional shape, making even Visser\u2019s original curtains look brand new. However they decide to sell. Wuyts seizes this opportunity and acquires the Retie residence in 2023, with the intention of continuing the renovation and conservation of the architectural gem. The idea is to update the house to the latest ecological standards while maintaining the utmost amount of respect to its designer and his intent. Down the line Wuyts plans on hosting artist residences, and aims to transform the garden of the estate into a sculpture park. Growing hedges would set some physical boundaries, effectively creating \u201crooms\u201d to host the sculptures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dictated by the physical dimension of the 0gms cabinet, Wuyts shows a maquette of the future of the Visser House. Between the ceramic trees stands the estate, with a removable rooftop, for the viewers to explore. A website dedicated to the estate: www.visserhouse.be<\/a> offers a virtual tour of the property for people to study. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thor Salden\u00a0– Text written for \u200bthe group exhibition “Impossible Enough to be an Art Space” in\u00a0Lichtekooi<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Except for having an artistic practice, educating, and conserving the Visser House Wuyts also runs the sporadically open project space As long as it takes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n