In an examination of public space, Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh compensate for the lack of dome in Leuven's St. Michiel Church with a very concrete, yet ethereal installation. By creating a catenary out of hundreds of metres of chain, the Gijs Van Vaerenbergh studio offers a fascinating counterpart to the missing dome. It would be easy to overlook the lack of this architectural detail in the Belgian church, but the airiness of the catenary takes the eye upwards and beyond in a search for what might have been. Gijs Van Vaerenbergh succeeds in working the mind as well as the eye of the viewer.

Artists: Pieterjan Gijs & Arnout Van Vaerenbergh
+ gijsvanvaerenbergh.com

The Upside Dome will be on display through October 31, 2010 at the baroque St. Michiel Church in Leuven, Belgium.