architectural feature as an obstacle. Interestingly, however, Van Snick employed it as focal point of the installation. The front and the back he painted black and blue, respectively. In other words, day and night serve as links between the nearby planes. The spectator who passes by experiences the gradual changing of the colors. The nuances that resulted from the various individual ways of painting also throw various kinds of ‘light’ on the surrounding space, as well as, eventually, on the visitor’s movement through the space. Despite the absent touch of the master’s hand, the anonymous brushes, subtly orchestrated by the artist, still guide the viewer’s attention to the installation’s essence, its different shades. Although this new intervention is fully consistent with the artistic approach of Philippe Van Snick, the work can only exist within the walls of this particular architecture and it inevitably changes or questions the architecture of this space at M. Once the exhibition is over, however, the walls are painted white again, and Sferen is absorbed in the artist’s oeuvre—at some point to be differently revived again elsewhere.
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“Sferen”