Monday, July 31, 2006

Am I not Farang?


Another joyful busride in the back of a crowded pickup in Jakarta, Indonesia. 18 aug 2003

Am I not Farang?


Busride home from Sanam Luang with bus #123 to Taling Chan, Bangkok, Thailand. 28 dec 1999
The ride home late at night was always kind of a pleasure with the busdrivers playing the best of Northern Style country music and people wondering where that Farang could be heading for at this hour.

Friday, July 28, 2006

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Smothering Pork Kingdom-come


Pigs ears dipped in polyester hanging to dry at Fort Asperen, Netherlands. 17 jun 1999
They were part of an installation I made for Dante's Inferno

Superficial Punctate Keratopathy


Ulrike Meinhof's grave at Heilig-Kreuz-Kirchhof, Mariëndorf, Berlin, Germany. 22 jul 2006
A patient with Thygeson's SPK may complain of blurred vision, watery eyes, a sensation of having a foreign body stuck in the eye and sensitivity to bright light.
In 2002 it was revealed that when Meinhof died her brain had been held by a neurologist who conducted the autopsy after her suicide, it was removed for further research regarding a brain operation she had undergone in 1962 and which might have turned her into a terrorist.
Meinhof's brain joined her body in the grave on 19 dec 2002, 26 years after her death.

Selfmutilating Piggie Kernel


A pigs' stye in Eernegem, Belgium. 19 nov 2002
On 28 dec 2002 it was the scene for my performance Parels voor de Zwijnen. A couple of weeks later the farm that once housed about 3000 pigs was completely shut down.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

I'm Beginning to See the Light


A fluorescent marker sign in an underground space near Central Railway Station, Brussels, Belgium. 29 mar 2002

Out in the Real World


A karaoke bar in Shanghai, China. 11 oct 2005

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

I Wish I Could Die


View down from a barrier wall in the harbour of Dublin, Ireland. 26 jan 2003

Monday, July 24, 2006

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Out in the Real World


Rue du Dépot, Havré, Belgium. 07 oct 2002
In this street Serial Killer Le Dépeceur de Mons left 2 trash bags, one containing a foot and part of a leg, another one containing a head. Before more bags had been found in Chemin de l'Inquiètude, in total over 20 with body parts of at least 4 women.

I am Happy when You are Happy


Morning at Rivierenhof, Deurne, Antwerpen, Belgium. 27 jan 2002

Fire I'll Take You to Burn


Firetrucks at Sanam Luang, Bangkok, Thailand. 05 jan 2000

I Wish I Could Die


A stairway into the ocean, Auckland, New Zealand. 24 aug 1999

Friday, July 21, 2006

I Wish I Could Die


The view down from the cliffs at Cap Griz Nez, France. 09 aug 2004
I can't forget the impression you made
You left a hole in the back of my head
I don't like hiding in this foliage and peat
It's wet and I'm losing my body heat

Am I not Farang?


Intense incense burning in a temple in Hong Kong. 11 jul 2003
And when I get excited
My little China Girl says
Oh baby just you shut your mouth
She says .... sshhh

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Elles sont Lourdes, mes Valises


DDV photographed in front of the house of serial killer Andras Pandy, Vanderlindenstraat, Brussels, Belgium. 18 dec 2004
photo by AMVK.

Dog-Eyes


Bangkok, Thailand. 10 jan 1999

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Sakthi Kodu Vel Ayya


A devotee at Thaipoosam, Batu Caves, Malaysia. 5 feb 2004

Die Kleinen und die Bösen


A market stall with a selection of spicy peppers at Chow Kit, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 27 jul 2003

I'm Beginning to See the Light


Lighting fixture in a Vaporetto station in Venezia, Italy. 11 jun 1999

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Out in the Real World


Corridor in a subway station in Berlin, Germany. 25 march 2006

I Walk the Line


Hong Kong seen from The Peak. 12 jul 2003
I took the Peak Tram up to The Peak, the highest spot of Hong Kong Island. From The Peak onwards I walked 12kms to Aberdeen along the Hong Kong Trail, which crosses the island. Apart from a load of tourists swarming The Peak, I encountered 7 people along the Trail.

Dopesmoker never Sleep


A procession of chinese men carrying a dopesmoking magician along Bukit Timah Road in Singapore. 15 feb 2004
The preparation of this activity had been going along for several days. First a complex of wooden floors and tents had been built, with various kinds of altars, stages and lots of tables. It continued with the burning of a huge stack of paper one day all day long. The procession lasted only for about half an hour as the magician was carried around the block.
Caravan migrates through deep sandscape
Lungsmen unearth the creed of Hasheeshian
Procession of the Weed-Priests to cross the sands

Sunday, July 16, 2006

On the Road Again


A train-attendant of the Trans-Siberian Express in Vladivostok, Russia. 17 apr 2005

Saturday, July 15, 2006

It's a Flat Flat Planet


Brussels, Belgium. 27 apr 2001

It's a Flat Flat Planet


Auckland, New Zealand. 01 sep 1999

I'm Beginning to See the Light


A light switch at "Batterie Todt" in Audinghen near Cap-Griz-Nez, France. 11 aug 2004

Sakthi Kodu Vel Ayya


A devotee at Thaipoosam, Batu Caves, Malaysia. 05 feb 2004
Every devotee has his own way of paying homage to the Lord, this young man has ropes attached to hooks stuck through the skin of his back. He ran all the way from Kuala Lumpur to the Batu Caves while someone was pulling the ropes. This kind of devotee usually is surrounded by a group of friends from the village who play music and shout "Vel Vel Vetrivel" to encourage him. This picture sports the inside cover of the cd VEL.

Out in the Real World


Pumping system on a footbridge in Taling Chan, Bangkok, Thailand. 08 jan 1999

Friday, July 14, 2006

Life Ends at 44


798 Factory in Dashanzi District, Beijing, China. 16 sep 2005
Factor 44 must stay!

Life Ends at 44


The restaurant at Silpakorn University, Bangkok, Thailand. 7 jan 2000
Factor 44 must stay!

Life Ends at 44


A gate in the village of Yang Zhen, Shunyi, China. 29 oct 2005
Today Factor 44 are having an assembly meeting to discuss the future of the association. They are by far the best thing that's happening in Antwerp for 10 years now. That's why it has to stay!

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Where Will it End? Where Will it End?


Feiertag in Bern, Switzerland. 23 jan 2005
This is the room, the start of it all,
Through childhood, through youth, I remember it all,
Oh, I've seen the nights filled with bloodsport and pain.
And the bodies obtained, the bodies obtained, the bodies obtained.

A Time and a Place


Vlemincktoren, Wijnegem, Belgium. 04 nov 2002

Sakthi Kodu Vel Ayya


A devotee at Thaipoosam, Batu Caves, Malaysia. 04 feb 2004
Every devotee has his own way of paying homage to the Lord, this woman rolled all the way from Kuala Lumpur to the Batu Caves. This picture sports the jewel case inlay of the cd VEL, a recording of a performance I did with Tim Vanhamel at Factor 44 on 31 aug 2005. We used lyrics from Hindi mythology and showed pictures of the Thaipoosam festival as we played harsh noise music.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Am I not Farang?


For just one night on 14 nov 2005 I stayed in Beijing's tallest hotel. The room was on the 49th floor or something. Good thing was that is was around the corner of the 3501 Government Store where I bought the drab army coat I'm wearing in the "Diggin' for Gordon" photo. I had been in the shop before, wanting to buy the coat, but for some reason it was "not possible" and I couldn't find out why. So on the second occasion I insisted, and the "not possible" seemed to be because you could only wear and use the coat was when you had to stand guard with a rifle. Fair enough. I bought one and I'm standing guard with a shovel....

Out in the Real World


A doorfront in Zone City, Antwerpen, Belgium. 14 sep 2001
I made a series of photos in Zone City that are included in a semi-interactive artwork in the police station at Handelsstraat in Antwerp, Belgium. The photos of Zone City are mixed with photos of streets in Bangkok and Singapore. The photos are on a computer touch-screen amidst some 200 aluminium cast shields of my chest on a huge wall of metal in the hall of the police station.
The police station is open every day, check it out....

Monday, July 10, 2006

It's a Flat Flat Planet


Abgeschleipte Metallwerke, Berlin, Germany. 21 may 1999
At the time of AMVK's first exhibition at Galerie Barbara Thumm.

I'm Beginning to See the Light


A part of Brussels Central Station not open for the public. 29 mar 2002

Out in the Real World


The last day I was in China, I took all of the workers on Art Farm to the Happy Forest Restaurant. On 23 nov 2005 we were directed to room nr 4.
In Mandarin, Cantonese and Japanese, the pronounciation (su'e) of the number '4' sounds almost exactly as the word 'death'. This leads to people not wanting to travel on the 4th of the month, don't want a license plate with a 4 in it or don't want to live on the 4th floor. Statistically more Chinese die of a heart-attack on the 4th of every month (about 7% compared to other days of the week), although this could be a result of the stress caused by the belief of 4 being related to death. This kind of monthly peak in deaths is not happening anywhere else, not even on the 13th in Western societies.

Out in the Real World


The Sound System in the Roses bar in Oranienstraße, Berlin, Germany. 02 jul 2006
The walls and ceiling of the bar are completely covered with pink plush and the music is quite good.