Room C 2014

Heremans started his work as an artistic reflection on a severe accident he was in and of which he does not remember anything. Only by bringing together the declarations of the witnesses he could imagine what had precisely happened. From this experience it seemed that our brain can be a nest in which reality, fantasy, observations, memories, information, truth or lie live together and sometimes even intermingle.

In the work eight visitors are asked to enter a room and go stand on one of the white crosses on the floor. Through headphones they are given the assignment to close their eyes and imagine specific situations. These mental constructions vary from abstract to very personal. The participants for example get instruction to imagine themselves in another place, in another room, with other people.

Now and then one of the participants can open his or her eyes and change places.
This way the participants sometimes come to stand face to face.

The combination of imagination and spacial composition, that is created by the visitors moving around, creates a game of human introspection, reflection and projection. In this work the personal reconstruction and perception of time are central. Every listener gets different instructions so alternative compositions and experiences can grow.

For the visitor who is not participating, the work becomes a moving installation made out of the other visitors in the room. Watching and being watched, intruding in someone else's head: In Room # every visitor enters the game of imagination in his own way and from his own experience.

Imagination Choreography for 8 visitors 8 diverse audio tracks ~17’00’’
spoken recorded words in English tape mp3-players headphones

Voice by Emily Whitebread
Photos by Joeri Thiry and Pierre Antoine

©2024 Roel Heremans