Guillaume Bijl 1946 - 2025

Guillaume Bijl passed away in the morning of June 15th 2025.

He made his people see.

I got to know Guillaume Bijl in 1988. He needed a temporary atelier to have a sculpture made and I happened to rent a place he could use for some days. 

The sculpture was to be the backside of a horse, which would be driven around in a horse trailer through the streets of Kapellen and Kalmthout, Belgium, during their “Beelden Buiten” arts festival that year.

When his assistant Philippe, an old friend of mine, finished the horse’s back end I had to drive the trailer around Kapellen while Guillaume and Philippe drove behind it to capture the scene on camera.

Some years later I became his assistant and his chauffeur, helping him, amongst others, during the production and set up of his works at Documenta IX in Kassel, Germany and the Bienniale de Lyon in France and shows at Castello Di Rivoli in Turin, Italy and the Wiener Secession in Vienna, Austria.

He also started teaching - one day per week - at the Jan Van Eyck Academie in Maastricht, The Netherlands and a bit later at the Hochschule für bildende Künste Hamburg, where he would be available for some days about once a month.

We spent a lot of time on the roads across Europe, often at night to avoid traffic, with Guillaume playing cassettes he bought at gas stations along the highways.

Guillaume also gave me great tips when I went to New York for the first time, telling me to go see Walter De Maria’s Earth Room and The Broken Kilometer at DIA Art Foundation, which I did, and I remain thankful to him for broadening my scope in life and art, as he did for many people. 

These adventure lasted until about 1994, as I became romantically involved with someone in Vienna and subsequently spent most of my time in Austria.

Of course we kept seeing each other in bars and pubs and parties and openings in the years to follow. Guillaume remained a good friend and enjoyable company throughout the years, even acting as the deejay on my wedding party in 2014…

a meeting of the NICC at Guillaume's place some years ago.

In Amsterdam during the unveiling of his sculptures at 

RAI Congress Hall

Installing stuffed birds during Documenta IX

at Karlsplatz in Kassel, 1992

one of his often overlooked interventions...

Guillaume explaining some of his work and method here:

An interview during Art Basel Miami in English here.

Blind Narcissist ( Être Artiste, Être Narcisse )

Performance executed about 10 years ago at Marcel Broodthaers tombstone.

Pondering blindness, narcism, and the challenges of seeing oneself objectively.

Hahaha!

 

Hommage to Ulrich Meister

Veritas

I once drove Ulrich Meister trough Antwerp and we passed by a Veritas store. The logo of this chain of stores at that time was a yellow button, as used by seamsters or tailors, combined with the word Veritas.

"Veritas, das heist Wahrheit, nicht?" Ulrich Meister asked me. "Yes" I said, "it does."

 

One Year's Harvest {of s(h)aving}

or 0.00843 kg.

or 0.297359 oz.

or 0.0185849687 lb.

 

S(h)aved again.

 On May 24 2024, after growing a beard for 21 years, I cut off my beard and used this facial hair as raw material for a work of art; i.e. the completion of the bird's nest in which the salt seller with older, shaved - with an electric razor - facial hair rests. 

Since then I returned to electric shaving and gather the shavings in a new container. 

On May 23 2025 I weigh the harvest of one year electric shaving to determine the weight of one year's DNA dust.

Sporting a Santa Claus beard

Proposal for the Nieuwstraat Festival 2025 open call

"OPEN CALL

3RD NIEUWSTRAAT FESTIVAL

The Nieuwstraat is an average street in the city centre of Dordrecht, the Netherlands. The festival will take place in this street on an unannounced Saturday in June 2025, between sunrise and midnight. From the received submissions, a varied program will be compiled. The performances will be carried out by volunteers, unannounced and with no explanation.

Taking place in everyday settings, the performances involve hiding the unusual within the usual. Passers-by may perceive these actions, but not recognize them as performance art.

THE OPEN CALL

Please describe your concept in a clear and accessible language, more or less as a manual. The performances will be carried out by (often unexperienced) volunteers.

Don’t forget to mention the preferred time of the day (in relation to the opening and closing of shops, outdoor cafes, the fruit/vegetable-market).

We can only accept your submission if you include links to a website or page with some information about your practice.

Please send your submission to mail@unnoticedart.com.

Deadline: Monday, 31 March 2025

MORE INFO  https://unnoticedartfestival.com"

 

Going to the dogs, Wim T Schippers' theatre play

Planting eggs/ burying eggs

The year 2024 marked the centennial of the birth of Belgian artist Marcel Broodthaers, beginning on January 28—a date that not only signifies his birth but also the day of his passing.  

On January 28, 2025, as an ambivalent poetic gesture to mark the conclusion of this centennial, I buried—or perhaps planted—two eggs in the small public gardens of Marcel Broodthaers Square in Brussels. 

The burial/planting areas were then marked with labels with a reproduction of Antoine Wiertz's painting "The Premature Burial".

Afterwards, I shared a beer with my wife and two Brussels artist friends, known as Dialogist Kantor,  in a café on the corner of the square where René Magritte reproductions were adorning the walls. 

The café is named SAS café, not Chez Le Droguiste Op Den Hoek, unfortunately.

Also, that evening my wife and I celebrated Chinese New Year in a Shanghai restaurant. The year of the dragon has passed. The year of the snake has begun. But what will the two eggs hatch?

Onboards Biennale Breakdown

A cute kitten generated by Artificial Intelligence tool Dall-e with the text "You Suck"

This was my proposal for the Onboards Biennal 2023. It did not get selected.

Everybody loves cute kittens, I assumed. Also, everybody sucks. :-D

Mock-up 1

Mock-up 2

https://onboards.be/

 

"Ticker Tape Parade" by the N.I.C.C. Belgium

Five one-liners on a news ticker 

at Platforms Project in Athens, Greece

and in Antwerp, Belgium:

"Wovon man nicht Sprechen kann, darüber muss man Kunst machen"

"Outside fighting the enemy within"

"The word 'Artist' as an insult. (Almost there)"

"Matter does not matter"

"Commonism for all!"

The whole thing is here.

This ticker tape was on view in the entrance of a supermarket in Antwerp:

Dada Siegt! (Com)Merz Bild.

Every logo of actual businesses and companies available on the internet in 2024 that combines a pair of the vowel "A" with another pair of every consonant in the western alphabet. 

Click on the image for a full view.

as one can clearly see:

DADA has won indeed. 

Surrealism has become a fashion commodity.

Broodthaers: A Centennial Event in Los Angeles with a reading of some of "Marcel Broodthaers In Other Words"

On the occasion of Marcel Broodthaers’ 100th birthday, LA based Apogee Graphics presented an exhibition 

of Broodthaers' graphic works and staged an evening of readings related to M.B.'s  life and work.

One of the readers, Ian James, read some of the anagrams from the book

"Marcel Broodthaers In Other Words"

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4mZf4_rnGD/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Reading on occasion of the opening of a Broodthaers show in LA

S(H)AVED

Cut off and shaved my beard after 21 years of shaving abstinence in order to make a bird's nest with the collected beard hair. 

Placing a salt seller containing 7 years of previous s(h)avings from an electric razor  - these shavings are a grey colored powder reminiscent of ashes - into the bird's nest. My DNA should be in there somewhere, thus making this a kind of self-portrait as (star)dust, or as a postmortem residue of someone who was once alive but escaped the prison of his material body, or - as the German speaking folks would say - had "Ein Vogel".

The still image of the preview below is from the first presentation of the artwork at the "Chez Le Droguiste Op Den Hoek" show at Lieve Lambrecht's and Chris Straetling's house at 67 Rue De Roucourt, Péruwelz, Belgium in 2019. 

Between the inception of the idea and the completion of the piece, 28 years have elapsed. 

Patience is a virtue and great art requires its own passage of time to be able to stand the test of time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5kEZR9FiTo

Quote

 

“In art it is hard to say anything as good as saying nothing.”

― Ludwig Wittgenstein, Culture and Value ―

Binary Breakdown

 "Oei" is a word typical of the Flemish language, 

expressing surprise or shock on encountering something unexpected.

Taking the concept of the Ready-Made to new boundaries.

Chat GPT meets Guillaume Bijl:

Rocky Witzenstein: Write an essay about Guillaume Bijl.

Chat GPT: Guillaume Bijl is a Belgian contemporary artist best known for his large-scale installations that comment on contemporary society, consumerism, and the urban environment. He was born in Antwerp in 1947 and studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in the same city.

Bijl's work often involves transforming everyday spaces into thought-provoking and surreal environments. He creates installations that challenge the viewer's perception of reality, often using unexpected and seemingly chaotic arrangements of objects and materials to draw attention to the mundane elements of our surroundings.

One of Bijl's most iconic works is his installation, "The End of the World". This work features a chaotic jumble of discarded objects and debris, such as broken furniture, discarded clothing, and other detritus, spilling out from a room onto the street. The installation is a commentary on the state of contemporary society, with its focus on consumerism and waste.

Another notable work is "The Museum of Modern Art". This piece features a recreation of a typical museum display, but with everyday objects and consumer products as the exhibited items. The work is a humorous commentary on the commodification of culture and the commercialization of art.

Bijl's work has been exhibited extensively around the world, including in major exhibitions at institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. He has also been the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions, including the Culture Prize of the Flemish Community in 1995.

In conclusion, Guillaume Bijl's work continues to challenge and inspire viewers with its imaginative and thought-provoking commentary on contemporary society. His large-scale installations are not only visually stunning, but also serve as a powerful critique of consumerism, waste, and the commodification of culture.

Rocky Witzenstein: He was not an autodidact?

Chat GPT: I apologize, I made a mistake in my previous answer. Guillaume Bijl did not teach himself but studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium.

Rocky Witzenstein: Tell me more about his installation "The End Of The World".

Chat GPT: "The End of the World" is a seminal installation created by Guillaume Bijl in the 1980s. It features a chaotic and seemingly haphazard arrangement of discarded objects and debris, such as broken furniture, discarded clothing, and other refuse, spilling out from a room onto the street. The installation is a commentary on the state of contemporary society and its focus on consumerism and waste.

The installation is designed to challenge the viewer's perception of reality, as the seemingly random arrangement of objects creates a surreal and disorienting environment. The work draws attention to the mundane and often overlooked elements of our surroundings, such as discarded consumer goods and the waste generated by modern society.

The piece has been displayed in various locations around the world and continues to be a highly regarded and influential work within the contemporary art world. It reflects Bijl's interest in using the everyday and the familiar as a means of commenting on contemporary society and the urban environment.

In addition to its commentary on consumerism and waste, "The End of the World" also speaks to Bijl's broader concerns about the relationship between people and their environment. Through his installations, he aims to draw attention to the way in which people interact with their surroundings and to encourage viewers to consider the impact of their actions on the world around them.

Rocky Witzenstein: Can you repeat that, but in the local Antwerpian dialect?

Chat GPT: I'm sorry, as a language model trained by OpenAI, I do not have the ability to write in a specific dialect or accent. However, you may be able to find resources or language specialists who can translate the information into the Antwerpian dialect for you.

Rocky Witzenstein: Giêne koekenbak, dus?

Chat GPT: Sorry, ik begrijp het verzoek niet. Kunt u uw vraag herformuleren of aangeven waarmee ik u verder kan helpen?

Rocky Witzenstein: Waar is de parking?

Chat GPT: Het is moeilijk voor mij om de specifieke locatie van een parking aan te geven zonder meer informatie over de omgeving waarin u zich bevindt. Als u meer informatie kunt geven over uw locatie en bestemming, zal ik mijn best doen om u te helpen.

Freedoom

The Brexit Variation:

© Rocky Witzenstein

(Tr)Eat The Rich (,) Right

Things have changed since the early seventies, haven't they?

Bene Lux, The Movie.

Everything That Is Important To Anybody In Alphabetical Order

I and I. 

and I,

and I,

 and I, 

 and I, 

 and I, 

 and I, 

etc.

 

 

Cum Grano Salis

Two salt sellers as hommages to two Marcels.. Duchamp ( the original Marchand Du Sel ) and Broodthaers, since you can't have eggs ( or fries for that matter ) without a pinch of salt.*

Salt seller, shown at "Chez Le Droguiste Op Den Hoek"
at Salond'EL in Péruwelz.

Salt seller, shown at "Chez Le Droguiste Op Den Hoek"
at Salond'EL in Péruwelz.

*The Latin word sal ("salis" is the genitive) means both "salt" and "wit".