In his artistic work Kristof Vrancken (°1982, BE) explores the forgotten in-between spaces, places that are part of a no man’s land. As a gatherer Vrancken searches subtle remains of human activities, which he captures in his pictures. This reading and interpreting of the landscape results in silent but at the same time intense and astonishing images.

By capturing this human entropy Vrancken wants to explore the mental borderland between reason and delirium. Between dark desires and social ostentation, nature and culture and beauty and ugliness. Thanks to his cinematographic eye he succeeds to bring together the puzzle pieces that shape the memory of the non-site. In this way he tries to reveal the unconsciousness streams that are part of these transition spaces. The revealing of this tipping point leaves the viewer with an uncomfortable feeling.

In his most recent work Vrancken not only uses nature as a passive subject but also as an active ingredient of his work. By developing his tactile pictures with local plant extracts he strengthens the relationship between the physical place and the image. As a post-digital artisan he incorporates the entropically character as an integral part of the work. Doing so he forces us to rethink our relationship with time and nature.

Kristof Vrancken studied photography at the LUCA School of Arts, where he is active as a researcher and teacher since 2008. In 2014 he started a PhD in the research group Inter-Actions at the LUCA School of Arts, called The Sustainist Gaze. Next to that, he runs the visual communication studio BeeldUitbraak.

His research process can be followed on instagram

[The above text is taken from Vrancken’s website and was written by Elien Haentjes]

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I first met Kristof Vrancken when I was the curator of the first Super! Biennial for Comtempary Art, Fashion and Design in Hasselt, Belgium (2005). At the time he already worked as photographer and provided the images for the catalogue.

Recently Bureau Doove has translated some his texts related to his work with the anthotype process as a way of acting against the Anthropocene. We look forward working with him within the context of the Intermission project.