Semester 9 is an up and coming contemporary art agency that is dedicated to supporting a new generation of artists through business ventures, exhibitions and collaborations. Their aim is to improve the autonomy of artists by providing them with unexpected solutions to present and distribute their work.

The 25th of November Semester9 transforms LOFI into a vibrant art party that combines a fine selection of visual artists with various musical talents. Throughout the evening and night you can immerse yourself in an experience that playfully alternates between performances, installations, dj sets and visual projections. Semester9 x LOFI defines a space where like minded people can interact, create and cross-pollinate across creative disciplines. This will not be your typical party. Get your tickets here.

Semester9 provides promising talent the much needed opportunity to break through the rigidity of the current contemporary art world. Numero asked all the artist that will display their work at LOFI to introduce their practice through three questions:

Doron Beuns

What themes/values do you explore in your artistic practice?

In my practice I reflect on the absurdity and hysteria of the contemporary world. As a response to the confusing times that we live in, I have been producing works where human subjects become trapped in objectification, conspiracies and destructive habits. In that rather gloomy setting I am trying to find a sense of sublime beauty, humor and psychological insight.

What are the materials/mediums used to explore and express the aforementionedthemes/values?

I tend to explore my concepts through various mediums and materials. The only consistent aspect of my practice is that I often make compositions with elements that have opposing qualities; like handmade and machine made, analog and digital, human and non-human, refined and cheap, to just name a few.

Who were your artistic influences early on? What inspires you to create? My main drive to produce work has always been an obsession with the contemporary human condition. Studying the work of other artists and writers has always been a part of investigating that obsession. People like Bruce Nauman, Janine Antoni, Adam Curtis, Michel Houellebecq, Julia Kristeva and Friedrich Nietzsche have certainly influenced my perception over the years.

@doronbeuns

Ernest Bessems

What themes/values do you explore in your artistic practice?

Human feelings, enlargements thereof, personal bottlenecks, incomprehension and a living form of biography. Furthermore, how society, language and religion influence these subjects. What we feel deep inside is often difficult to grasp or explain. The most honest confrontations I have with myself and the world, I try to capture both universally and personally in my practice.

What are the materials/mediums used to explore and express the aforementionedvalues/ themes?

Performance combined with sculpture, installation and objects. A tension between thoughtful physical objects and my performative body that intuitively enters into a narrative. A narrative in which I encounter myself, my philosophies and ideas.

Who were your artistic influences early on? What inspires you to create?

I have been drawing since I was young. This did somehow point me in the right direction. I also had a lot of interest in architecture. But I only became really interested in creating when I started breakdancing, where I felt very free and looked for a personal style. This has brought me a lot in terms of who I am and what I could be moving forward.

@ernest_bessems

Ilse Kind

What themes/values do you explore in your artistic practice?

Alienation of the self and the body by external forces of control. I explore this phenomenon by comparing it to similarities in the natural world.

What are the materials/mediums used to explore and express the aforementionedvalues/ themes?

The moment, subject or idea defines the medium and material.

Who were your artistic influences early on? What inspires you to create?

My grandparents. Internal friction and confusion. Forces that control normality.

@ilsekind

Sjeng Kessels

What themes/values do you explore in your artistic practice?

I work with the complexity within simplicity.

What are the materials/mediums used to explore and express the aforementionedvalues/ themes?

Whatever the work asks for.

Who were your artistic influences early on? What inspires you to create?

Basquiat, Burden and Warhol. The absurdity of the ordinary.

@sjengkessels

Sophie Schreurs

What themes/values do you explore in your artistic practice?

Art gives me the ability to deal with my frustration, unease and lack of understanding of the systems we are expected to participate in. Through my work I reflect on the relation between the individual and larger systems such as capitalism and social media. I wonder how we, in an unequal world where our voices often don’t seem to reach that far, can nonetheless transcend feelings of alienation and powerlessness.

What are the materials/mediums used to explore and express the aforementionedvalues/ themes?

Lately I have been mostly making installations. Latex is the main material that I use, because of its corporeal appearance. Furthermore because it has a strong smell and is a natural material that eventually deteriorates. For future works I’m planning to work with recycled metal and more other natural materials, like organic soap.

Who were your artistic influences early on? What inspires you to create?

I think my obsession with anatomy comes from my mom being a vet and me growing up around her collection of medicine books, animal skeletons, fetuses and so on. But this focus on the body also comes from one of my favorite artists: Francis Bacon. In his paintings you can find bloody cow carcasses and deformed bodies, which remind the viewer of their most existential feelings.

@sophie_schreurs

Thieu Kessels

What themes/values do you explore in your artistic practice?

I like to make work where I confront the viewers with their position in the world, which is simultaneously a way to include them.

What are the materials/mediums used to explore and express the aforementionedvalues/ themes?

When I make use of materials I always try to find something that has a relationship to or feeling with the subject. In this way the material is not only the neutral carrier of the artwork but also adds substance to the image.

Who were your artistic influences early on? What inspires you to create?

When I was younger I was mostly inspired by the city and observing people in different moods in addition to daydreaming a lot. When I started out as an artist I really liked Gus van Sant and Diado Moriyama. What inspires me to create is the huge amount of films I watch. Furthermore my quest to find a visual or physical expression for an initial idea that I had. So that they are not just ideas that wander around your mind. I also find it important to develop a viewpoint on certain subjects.

@freundschip

Vera Kersting

What themes/values do you explore in your artistic practice?

In my practice I’m looking for boundaries that I can then try to cross. There is a fine line between reality and fiction, mental and physical space or life and death. Different worlds collide and this is where friction arises. Fetishism, spectacle and madness are recurring themes in my work. They are shells of a void that imposes itself in the midst of all efforts to fill that void. Pain and comedy are not separated from each other in my work, just like suffering and resilience, or solace and desire.

What are the materials/mediums used to explore and express the aforementionedvalues/ themes?

Diverse techniques and materials meet on my canvas; Oil paint, spray cans, screen prints, acrylic paint, stencils and textiles. In my painting practice I often work on a large scale, so that the viewer becomes immersed in the canvas. I also make short documentary films with an intuitive approach. In the collage-like editing process, a game arises between past and present: the timelines are not ordered chronologically, but they intertwine. The past is palpable in the present.

Who were your artistic influences early on? What inspires you to create?

There are many artists that inspire me for different reasons, but the paintings of Francis Bacon did very much speak to me as a child. When I saw his exhibition a world opened up for me; a place where pain is allowed to be shown. Also the collages, videos and paintings of David Wojnarovics stayed with me. He created these out of necessity. I think this strong need to convey something is a fertile ground for authenticity.

@verakersting

The art party will be the 25th of November from 21:00 until 05:00  at LOFI, basisweg 63. Tickets are available via the following link https://eventix.shop/ad4tedkk .

For updates check out the instagram of @semester.9