Joelle Tuerlinckx is a Belgian Artist who explores conceptual art through films, public projects and publications. She works with many different media to often create a space rather than a stand alone piece of art. Joelle uses a signature circle motif that often contains subject matter such as words, numbers or shapes. Tuerlinckx’s pieces are sometimes accompanied by a detailed text explaining her concept behind the piece to insure her message is fully understood or it can be vaguely preposterous and leave the viewer to work out the puzzle themselves. Tuerlinckx created an edition for The Library Council titled la-plus-grande-surface-au-monde scale 1:1 / the-biggest-surface-of-the-world scale 1:1. “Each unique image, signed and dated to the hour, was produced on a series of desktop laser printers over many days. Each reads as a shimmering, minimalist gray abstraction, printed on a circular sheet of paper, or as a gray void, marked by the shifting moiré patterns that in commercial printing may indicate degraded reproduction.”(1)
Tuerlinckx exploits found materials such as rocks, newspaper, ladders, biscuit tins, wire, etc. to create her own unique space. In her Arnolfini exhibition WOR(L)D(K) IN PROGRESS it explores 20 years of her exhibitions, plunging the viewer into her own mind. For example she writes on clear tape “A space that doesn’t exist … all that you make here doesn’t exist … when you sing here … when you cross here you don’t exist”, which indicates as soon as you cross into her territory marked by this tape you are to disappear from existence as you understand it. In this exhibit her drawing also feature, allowing her audience to see her technical skill beyond her conceptual and physical works that are presented heavily in the art world.
I personally find Tuerlinckx very interesting as in my own work I believe in having a strong conceptual basis. I like how her work makes people think and is often left unclear as to what exactly she is saying on her topic. The vagueness is something I’d like to bring into my own work, to allow my audience to interpret my puzzle to inspire their own independent thought on the social issue my work responds to.
Websites used in Research:
- http://www.moma.org/learn/resources/library/council/tuerlinckx
- http://www.arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/joelle-tuerlinckx-wor-l-d-k-in-progress
- https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/dec/11/joelle-tuerlinckx-artist-puzzles-meteorites
- http://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/performance-and-music/bmw-tate-live-joelle-tuerlinckx
Erin Caitlin Karn 