Ief Spincemaille

After completing his studies in Philosophy at the K.U. Leuven and modern music in Barcelona, in 2006 Ief Spincemaille (1976) decided to follow the path he had already been following since childhood: creating all sorts of machines, sculptures and installations. Since 2006 he has therefore developed an oeuvre that is characterised by a pre-scientific admiration for nature and technology which he has translated into a simple and poetic visual idiom.

His first works (Is the great bear a lonely bear, 2006) make extensive use of video and experiment with the relationship between image and reality. A series of viewing instruments created between 2007 and 2010 (Reverse Blinking, Virtual Ground etc.) also deal with this theme, this time not using video-technical means but analogue lo-fi media.

In the work Behind the Horizon (2010), Spincemaille’s interest in technology/media shifts to reality itself. The works that follow deal with everyday natural phenomena that are often too close to be visible. By way of simple, poetic works these hidden phenomena are made visible in a new way. Frequently recurring themes here are time and light.

In 2013 Spincemaille moved his studio from rural Bierbeek to the centre of Leuven. This brought a new interest with it: what is the place of the artist in the broader social context? To this end Spincemaille set up a ‘temporary’ work-form (De Verbreder -- The Broadener). This is a cluster of various works, initiatives, collaborations, questions and presentations with which he tries to get a better understanding of his relationship as a creator with the social and non-cultural field. 

Spincemaille also works as a visual artist and designer for various national and international theatre and opera productions. His work is supported by Werktank, the production platform for media art, whose business manager he was for the first three years and where he is currently responsible for the technical coordination of the various projects.