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Parque Mexico

a video by Andrea Cambur

about a public art intervention

by Gijs Coenen

Parque Mexico, located in the heart of Mexico City, took on a central role in the research I conducted in Mexico. It is a concrete plaza surrounded by palm trees, flowers, walking paths, and fountains, and it’s filled daily with salsa lessons, games of tag, cycling children, soccer matches, spinning tops, dogs, birthday parties, and kickboxers. This lively dynamic is framed by a 30 cm-high wall, historic murals, a stage, and pergolas. At the heart of the plaza stands an impressive sculpture, once part of an open-air theatre from 1927. The sculpture consists of five pillars connected by a red arch, executed in a distinct Art Deco style that subtly echoes through the surrounding architecture. People from all walks of life—seniors, children, rich, poor, locals, and tourists—gather here. The plaza has no fixed rules; everyone claims their space, and the unexpected is always welcome. The result is a festive atmosphere where frisbees can fly dangerously close without anyone batting an eye. This makes Parque Mexico a public oasis brimming with a unique energy where play naturally flourishes. But what exactly makes Parque Mexico so special? What elements are present that give rise to this unique dynamic? And what would be lost if certain elements were removed? It’s tempting to think that the low wall or a few palm trees aren’t essential—but what if all the fountains were turned off, the murals painted over, or the central sculpture removed? The vibrant energy of the plaza would inevitably fade.

As an experiment, I introduced several new elements to the plaza and its visitors: a block of ice, a rubber band, wooden sticks… These kinds of field experiments form an essential part of my artistic research. They bring people and materials together to generate new insights and sculptural designs.

Melting Module

Ice, cardboard, wood

Mexico City, Radio 28

2024

The interactive cardboard sculptures in the video are a continuation of the research I conducted in Mexico City, where I investigated how people engage in play within public spaces and how sculptural elements influence that behavior. The materials I used—such as cardboard, rubber bands, and ice—are drawn from the everyday urban landscape of the city. Ice, in particular, caught my attention as it is delivered daily by specialized companies to street vendors across the city, where it plays a key role in preserving goods and cooling drinks. These sculptures translate such material and cultural observations into playful, interactive forms.

Rocking Modules

a short film by Jannes Callens

about a sculpture by Gijs Coenen

Colossal Module & Roll Over Module

@Zomertank Exhibition

in collaboration with SLAC, Hal 5, tout petit, Werktank and the city of Leuven

Spinning Module

recycled plastic & concrete

a video by Jannes Callens

Rocking Modules

@Light Art Festival Barcelona

2024

Werfberg

Permanent art work

Ganshoren 2024

in collaboration with Sebastiaan Willemen & Kaat Vandervelde

 

 

 

General Work Description

Some kids are running up and down a high pile of earth. Even though it’s overgrown with plants, there’s no deliberate plan or intention to this mountain. It’s just dirt that was left there and has subsequently been claimed by a bunch of youngsters as an unofficial playground. Some are rolling downhill. Others are running to the top and screaming at an imaginary opponent, as they are king of the mountain now. The youngest is at the bottom grabbing dirt and squeezing it through her fingers with unwavering attention.

Play allows people to step outside of reality and to determine, once again, what is real and what is not… It is a “non-serious” action that absorbs their participants in a unique sort of seriousness, for a certain time.*

As a visual artist I explore the relationship between art and play by creating a series of sculptures that, together, function as a playground. One of these sculptures, called Rocking Module, reacts to simple movements such as pushing, pulling or evading. It’s my ambition to investigate multiple facets of play by creating a variety of play objects, each with a unique response to movement. Within this series, spectators become part of the artwork, as adults and children move intuitively with the objects.

These artworks find themselves at the intersection between sculpture, play-object and functional design. However, the conflict with functional design is significant, for how do you define the function of a free activity like play? Let alone; how do you design an object that supports this unpredictable action? I’m fascinated by how seemingly aesthetic elements such as color, texture and figuration take on a different kind of value within free play. As they definitely are key to our imagination. This is where play and art intersect conceptually. Both allow us to connect to the real world through an imaginary world, which calls for imaginative designs. And both allow us to connect to reality, whilst disrupting “the rules”.

 

It’s this tension between the serious and the non-serious that is shaping my oeuvre. It’s this tension, powered by an unstoppable urge to play, that works as an incentive for my artworks.

*Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens, 1944, Routledge and Kegan Paul.

Rocking Modules

@(UN)Holy Light

@Museum M

2022

Light installation

curated by Juliette Bibasse

a project in collaboration

with Sookie Brarou, Werktank & Leuven

(UN)HOLYLIGHT2022-lowres-99.jpg

Rocking Modules

2021

recycled HDPE & lead

1,80m ; 0,80m ; 0,80m

a project in collaboration

with Werktank

www.werktank.org

Light is Coming from the left

6,907m ; 5,863 m

wall painting

Harensesteenweg 228

Vilvoorde

mural 2.jpg

GIF

a GIF video design for Werktank

2021

web_pic4-1024x819.jpg

Carrying Module

Silent intervention

for Het Entrepot

2020

wood & concrete

1,10m;1,10m;1,35m

Gravity take me

2020

stainless steel & foam

0,51m;0,49m;1,05m

Gravity take me.jpg

Geometry by day

2019

painting: acryl on wood

0,74m;0,87m;0,04m 

& 0,15m;0,86m;0,04m

(diptych)

Geometry by day picture.jpg
PAINTINGS.jpg

Struck By Sunlight

(upper left)

2019

painting: acryl on wood

1,44m;1,44m;0,063m

O'Wall

2019

painting: acryl on wood

0,74m;0,87m;0,04m

OWALL.jpg

The Light Is Coming

From The Left

2019

painting: acryl on wood

0,74m;0,87m;0,04m

Het licht komt van links.jpg
HOMAGE TO A CHAIR-GIJS COENEN-BOZAR-SCULPTURE

HOMAGE TO

A CHAIR

@BOZAR 2016

polyurethane, chinese ink 2m;1m;1m

A number trivial everyday coincidences bring about an image that in contrast is not trivial at all. An image capturing time, fixated on the wall. “Homage to a chair” is a massive abstraction/ concretization of the world that surrounds me. It’s the accidental compilation of numerous things: a chair, a blade of grass, a spine, a cone, ... developed into an intuitive design. The imagery is brought together by a game of contrast, tensity and repetition in which it carries connotations despite these abstract conditions. A spectator starts to think, to doubt and looking for a reason why. But the solution is absurd, trivial, like the waving grass, a chair standing in a room or a mountain reaching for the sky. It’s the accidental course of events that defines their position until someone, while passing by, takes its time to behold them, the way he does.

O'SOIL

2019

blue concrete, stainless steel

1,37m;1,13m;1m (500kg)

OSOIL.jpg

ROCKING MOTION I

2017

steel,rope,wood

9m;9m;4m

rocking motion.jpg
gijs coenen 13.jpg

SOLO

EXIBITION:

WHERE THEIR

CONTENT LIES

@Serre Hasselt

2019

A CREATURE 

HESITATES

2019

acryl on wood

1,80m;0,85m;0,036

gijs coenen 12.jpg

O'BODEM

SUR FACE

2017

plaster, copper

0,4m;0,324m;0,4m

O’Bodem is an angular blocky distorted shape held together by a tight copper rack. Its shape is founded in a simple drawing and adjusted during the making process. Every step was an abstract game of line corresponding with shape, ink with matter, of drawing corresponding with model. This game of ping pong played by third and second dimension led to a very angular shape which in my opinion looks very much like a cheap. Although O’Bodem has an abstract root he flourishes while being interpreted.

GIJS COENEN

CONTINGENT COLORED COMPOSITIONS

2017

ink on paper, wood

0,31m;0,31m;0,018m

GIJS COENEN

PUSH & PULL

2017

ink on paper, wood

0,94m;1,58m;0,054m

OUT OF TONGUE AND GROOVE FROM TIP TO TOE

2017

mdf, concrete

0,40m;0,22m;0,95m

gijs coenen 18.jpg

OSAE COMI WAZA

2018

acryl on wood

0,867m;0,736m;0,036m

Composition with four identical objects which seem to be functional but in reality are absurd.

OBJECTS,

LIKE THE GRASS

 2017
polyurethane

0,05m;0,2m;

0,075m

GIJS COENEN

ROCKING MOTION II

2017

steel,rope,wood

10,3m;1,2m;6,3m

RUNNER

2014

TEK7

0,07m;0,05m;

0,05m

In order to make a Modernist's chess game functionality had to be the ground rule of my design: After rejecting the original design of all the chess game pieces the shape of every piece had to grow out of its possibilities, defined by the board game rules: The bishop, only being able to move diagonal on the board, came out of this experiment as a very mechanical piece that seems to "run" while moving. This is remarkable yet a bit humoristic because it forms a wordplay with the Dutch designation for bishop:’Loper’, literally translated as: ‘Runner’

GIJS COENEN

© Gijs Coenen all rights reserved

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