nuitblanche.lab creation
In November 2021, Decoratelier has been commissioned to design sports facilities on the Rempart des Moines social housing site. But facilities for whom? And where? Is a muscle cage still needed in Brussels? What about the modules already installed near block 12? Are they being used? 17 movements is looking for answers to these questions, first by listening and then by building.
Camille Thiry, from Decoratelier, goes there every week with an empty notebook and a handful of questions. What muscle do you want to work on? What movement do you want to create?
Slowly, modules appear. A horizontal ladder for Jack’s deltoids. A rowing machine for the living room. A skipping rope hidden in a safe that only Koulako and her friends know the code to. Some residents prefer a colorful exercise bike at the entrance of the building, others an invisible tennis ball. An athletic trainer looks for the right weight of a dumbbell for a 9-year-old boy. An occupational therapist and a physical therapist develop exercises for knee, shoulder and Achilles pain.
Piece by piece, a gym emerges. No center, no target group, no average size or muscle mass. 17 movement spaces created by and for specific bodies with specific postures, dreams and pains.
On October 1, the collection will be open to the public. In the framework of Art + People by nuitblanche, the builders invite visitors to sit on their installations and try out the movements. How will it happen? Who will have to adapt? To whom?
