In compliance with increased restrictions against the coronavirus, LABIOMISTA will go into winter mode early this year. Visitors will only be able to use LABIOMISTA for walks.
Sunday, 9 August, moth catchers counted around 6000 moths at various locations in Genk, belonging to over 300 different species. The count is part of a remarkable art project by artist Koen Vanmechelen, in collaboration with Bart Van Camp and the city of Genk.
On July 14, Vive La Vie, a talkshow on national television, landed at LABIOMISTA. Guests Tom Van Dyck and Koen Vanmechelen were invited by Karl Vannieuwkerke to talk about art, nature and culture. And about the diversity of life.
LABIOMISTA, the evolving work of art by Koen Vanmechelen in collaboration with the city of Genk, will reopen to the public on June 9th. "The lockdown has given the Cosmopolitan Culture Park yet another dimension," says the artist. “Our second season is all about connectivity, energy & healing. Our new campaign image perfectly symbolises this.”
When a pandemic shuts down her laboratories and temples, modern art finds new ways to spill over and engage with the world. In the Battery, the beating heart of LABIOMISTA, artist Koen Vanmechelen launches The Battery Channel. With this truck and audiovisual channel, Vanmechelen continues his artistic quest for meaning, identity, diversity and community in sounds, syllables and imaging.
Today, in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is more than necessary to make a statement that we should show more respect for nature. We make this statement through artist Koen Vanmechelen's specially designed face mask with a highly charged symbolism. A volta is possible. This is Not a Chicken.