Home >  Journal Main >  Belgium  <Prev Next>

A short trip to Belgium

A red colored streamlined high-speed train waits in the station.

  The trip to Brussels was a quick trip of a little over an hour on the "Thalys" high-speed train which leaves through the Gare du Nord station and passes through the currently ablaze St Denis area of Paris.  We didn't even know there was any trouble and only stayed in the station for a few seconds before the train left. 

A young girl holds the railing of an elegent staircase.
   We were going to visit Maïté's cousins who live in Brussels so we got to stay with them and were treated to an insiders view of the city. 
A little girls smiles for the camera while sitting in her mother's lap
   Brussels is a relatively small city in a relatively small country but it is the capital of the European Union and has a good deal of culture of its own.  The country has two distinct parts based on the prevailing language (French or Flemish).  Most people choose to learn only one of these two languages so there are two parallel school systems.  Fortunately for me, most also learn English as a sort of neutral language for communicating between the two.
A grocery store display shelf full of beer and more stacked on the floor.   I'm shameless and will take photographs anywhere, including the local grocer where a pack of Belgian ale is about 3.50 euros ($4.20).  This image is for my beer-drinking buddies back home.   He he he.  Belgian ale is a big favorite of mine but in the US it often costs upwards of $5.00 a bottle.  So little time.
A fountian made of a bronze statue of a little boy peeing.   This is the famous "Manneken Pis".  The Belgians are a bit confused why this little fellow is so popular.  I had to explain that he has been reproduced in every possible manner.  My dad even had a version that would dispense a shot of whiskey into your glass.  In the sign to his right, he is advertising that other famous Belgian commodity: Chocolates. 
A bronze sculpture of a saint has been polished bright yellow by the hands of inumerable travelers.
   A local favorite is this figure that you are supposed to touch for good luck.  It is several centuries old but seems to be holding up.  You gotta love bronze. 
A young girl looks wearily at an oncoming taxi as her father uses her as a prop to give scale to the giant Atomium sculpture in the background.   The Worlds Fair of 1958 was marked by this piece (by A. Waterkeyn, an engineer), which is called the "Atomium" and was intended to celebrate the then coming Atomic age. 
"close up" of the Atomium includes tiny images of workers on top and suspended below one of the 56 foot diameter shperes.
   They were almost but not quite done refurbishing the Atomium when we visited so we weren't able to go up inside.  The last time I saw the Atomium it had faded a bit but the aluminum surfaces are nicely polished now.  Note the tiny images of workers.  The Atomium is huge, over 300 feet tall, which makes it one of the tallest structures in Brussels so it dominates the skyline.
A large blue sign hangs on the side of a building. Below the name Panamarenko are there flying saucers.
  There was a retrospective of the work of Belgian sculptor Panamarenko at the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Belgium.  I wasn't allowed to take pictures but the web site is (www.expo-panamarenko.be).   As I overheard one Belgian describe his work "he makes flying machine that cannot possibly fly".  It was fun for me as an Aerospace Engineer to see how he was able to present the ideas of my trade better than most of the exhibits of machines that can fly. 
A child's drawing of eight people drawn on a stained paper placemat of the restaraunt "Chez Leon" which is famous for mussels.
   Being admitted tourists, we went out for "Mussels in Brussels".  This drawing of the event is by almost five-year-old Leila.
Image of three kids in costoumes: a ghost, a toothy monster and a Power-Ranger.   We introduced several of the neighbors to the American celebration of Halloween.  Most were just confused but managed to scrounge up some candy.  Some were not amused at the idea of children begging for candy (my apprehension at the time was that this might have something to do with Halloween coming at the end of Ramadan).  One woman was caught off-guard by Aidan's horrible monster mask enough to shriek out loud followed by three minutes of laughter--probably the best possible gift to a ten-year-old trick-or-treater.
A shodowy image of a man walking is barely visible amidst a lighted street on Holloween night.    Ours were not the only ghosts out that night.  I caught this one walking in the street.  The kids didn't believe it was a real ghost and checked the spot to see for sure.
An image of the facade of the SMAK museum in Ghent.
    While Maite and the kids investigated the local playgrounds, her cousin Nathalie and I traveled to the city of Ghent in the Dutch part of Belgium to visit the SMAK (Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst).  
A stack of perhaps fifty presumably blank canvases leans against a wall. on top of the canvases is a stack of granite blocks. On the wall above is a short blue stripe.   There were several pieces by Italian painter/sculptor Giovanni Anselmo.  The accompanying text revealed that he has been searching for a way to present images that are free from "referential elements" and present work that is "frozen in time".  Hmm.  To me it seemed more about gravity and the potential energy stored so precariously.  He had several pieces that utilized heavy masses that were intended to deny motion and therefore any reference to time.
An elaborately carved woden model of a cement mixer.   This piece by Wim Delvoye was fun: a cement mixer reproduced in highly ornate carved mahogany surrounded by shovels bearing the coats of arms of dozens of families.  ( Delvoye is most well known for his piece "Cloaca" which is a forty foot long machine that models human digestion.  You put food in one end and it creates...well...shit.)  I need to learn more about Delvoye.
A view across a bridge shows a whole row of Cathedrals in various styles.   We went out into Ghent to find a couple of installations.  The city is gorgeous and must have been doing quite well in the middle ages as well because there is a whole row of cathedrals on this street. 
Small nests have been attached to the old stone wall outside a Cathedral. Attached to one of the nests on a wire is a model of a swallow. Below this are spikes to keep birds from landing.   Graffiti and street art in Belgium seemed to me to be of a much higher caliber than that in France.  Here an anonymous artist has installed nests and a model of a Swallow amidst the otherwise spiked off no-bird-zone of this cathedral.  It makes me wonder if they have "Welcome" mats or "We want you" signs in front of prisons. 
The silhouette of tree branches are viewed from below as a tree grows up between two monolithic slabs of stone.   Nathalie Joiris is working with live trees in her sculpture which means her work changes with time as the tree grows.  This image is of one a group of three installed in a park near a pond.  It is composed of four meter tall "petite granite" slabs and trees which are now taller than the stones.  Nathalie spoke of adjusting the trees as they grow.  
A night photo of two large stone discs each attched to a tree which appears to be pulling the stone. A streaked image of a car in the background.   We had time to see another piece of Nathalie's but it was already dark.  Here is a link to better images of her work ( www.nathaliejoiris.com/fr/artpubl03.php ).

29 Octobre - 1 Novembre 2005

Home >  Journal Main >  Belgium  <Prev Next>