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Woutertje Pietersestraat 21
Kévin Bray in collaboration with Alexis Bondoux and Lou Buche transformed their balcony into an installation in which they invite passers-by to make a rebus. By doing so they connect the façade, known as the architectural face of a building, with the figurative meaning of 'façade', pretending, playing a game, masquerading. With their installation made of found materials in the neighbourhood, they create a playingfield, not only for an audience familiar with art, but for everyone, regardless of background.
They use a special effect based on the notion of defamiliarisation: an artistic technique from the early 20th century to present ordinary things in an unfamiliar or strange way. From an unseen spectator, the audience is transformed into an active observer and participant. It greatly influenced the world of art and theory and is also used by recent movements such as culture jamming. A movement that is criticizing and reacting to and against consumerism by using the same technologies and strategies.
Kévin Bray, 2021, detail Ré-But
Bray was trained as a graphic designer and uses a variety of materials and techniques, including (digital) painting, computer graphics, sculpture, film and animation. He is interested in the (inter) functioning of media and technologies and their influence on the impact and meaning of images.
Kévin Bray, Alexis Bondoux and Lou Buche, Ré-But, mixed media, 2021, photo: Gert-Jan van Rooij
