In 2018, sixteen contemporary artists took inspiration for their innovative ideas from the baroque landscape, for the Experience Traps group exhibition at the Middelheim Museum in Antwerp. Dennis Tyfus conceived De Nor, an artwork midway between an architectural sculpture and an interactive art installation that accommodates all manner of performances, but which, as a form, undoubtedly also does justice to his artistic practice. Frederic Vandoninck Wouter Willems Architecten turned the design by their friend, Dennis Tyfus, into a solid and functional entity with tiered seating, a bar and a toilet. The latter’s influence can be seen in the privatisation of a segment of a public park by fencing it off, the playful graphic drawing in the performance platform in front of the seating, and DIY invitations and the unusual programme of concerts, performances and debates that he organised in this new, ‘open’ art space in Antwerp. De Nor is part of the permanent collection of the open-air museum, but it owes its existence mainly to the interaction between the artist and the public.

This text is based on the essay of Katrien Laenen, which has been published in the Flanders Architectural Review N°14. When Attitudes Take Form

The Nor, FVWW architecten in Composite Presence, Flanders Architecture Institute © We Document Art

Composite Presence at Biennale Architettura 2021

This project is part of the exhibition Composite Presence in the Belgian pavilion at the 17th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia.

FVWW architecten: "De Nor is a social sculpture, it can get activated in summer with concerts, performances, and lectures. The project brings people together and consists of a stage, a tribune, and a bar. These elements are located in a wooded area and create a protective space on the border of the park. De Nor is the result of an intense collaboration between the artist Dennis Tyfus and us where authorship has merged into a rich project."

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