Kris Martin | For Whom II, reactivating the ‘Grote Triomfante’, formerly the largest bass bell of the Ghent carillon

Press release available only in original language. 

Together with Ghent City Council, S.M.A.K., the Municipal Museum of #contemporaryart in Ghent, has invited the Belgian artist #krismartin (1972, Kortrijk) to create a work in public space for the city and its inhabitants. 

In For Whom II (2017-18), the artist is reactivating the ‘Grote Triomfante’, formerly the largest bass bell of the Ghent carillon. In recent years this bell has hung motionless on Emile Braunplein as a historical symbol and as a fine example of the art of bell-founding. 

As from 25 January 2018, Martin will be letting the bell ring once again: at a rate of one muted chime per inhabitant until, after 257,983 movements, it will once again fall silent. For each chime of the bell, the name of a citizen who gave permission to be identified will appear on an LED screen next to the bell, or else the word ‘anonymous’ for those who prefer not to be named in public. 

In For Whom II, #krismartin intends, by means of a simple gesture, to represent the complexity of an urban society and at the same time plead for solidarity among its inhabitants. The title of the project is a reference to the poem For Whom the Bell Tolls, written by the writer and Anglican priest John Donne in 1624 to encourage universal humanism. 

Kris Martin is fascinated by life’s great questions, the human condition and the passage of time. His sculptures and installations are reflective, but also communicative. In his work he tries to display a certain lightness and openness, so that every viewer can interact with it on the basis of their own personal life experiences. In For Whom II, he makes a distinction between the human urge for individuality and the global predilection for continuity. By identifying himself with a proper name and passing a family name on the next generation, man tries to leave a mark, to struggle against his mortality. By showing the names of individuals on an LED board in the city centre and sounding the bell, #krismartin offers them 6 proverbial ‘seconds of fame’ before they are once again absorbed into the crowd. 

Kris Martin often uses found materials, everyday objects and existing artworks that he slightly adapts and instils with a new story or a poetic metaphor. As in the works For Whom (2012), a bell without a clapper, and Anonymous II (2009), a buried skeleton with no gravestone, in For Whom II he makes visible an absence which generates meaning precisely by its contradiction. While the chiming of bells heralds important news and addresses the city as a community, at the same time the ‘anonymous’ citizens that pass by bring the hidden lives and numerous unknown people to the surface. They too, in all their changing relations, are an essential component of the city. 

Kris Martin regularly develops installations for public space. In Belgium he installed, among other things, the cross with folded arms on St Bavo’s Cathedral in Ghent (2011) and the sculpture Altar (2014) on the beach in Ostend. For Whom II is a temporary intervention that runs from 25 January to 6 May 2018. 

Kris Martin lives and works near Ghent. In recent years he has been invited to take part in numerous exhibitions in international institutions including solo projects at K21 

Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf (2013); Kunstmuseum Bonn; Kestner Gesellschaft in Hannover; Aargauer Kunsthaus, Aarau (2012); Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien in Vienna (2012); Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg (2012); the Wattis Institute for #contemporaryart in San Francisco (2011 & 2008); Aspen Art Museum, Aspen (2009); Galleria d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (GAMeC), Bergamo (2008); Museum Dhondt- Dhaenens, Deurle (2008); and PS1 – MOMA, New York (2007). 

Kris Martin | For Whom II 

25.01... 06.05.2018 

Bell-tower, Emile Braunplein 

www.smak.be