I arrived a bit late at the 14th edition of the Brussels Girl Geek Dinner – no surprise there – but I did regret it, because I missed the first 15 minutes of a presentation that turned out to be fascinating.

Els Vermang was talking about the project they have so far realized with LAb[au] (ugly flash alert). LAb[au] is an artistic space (gallery ?) founded by two architects. They work around the themes of the use of technology and information in the context of architecture and space. They have a space in Brussels, and there’s some work on display at the BOZAR as well..

The most spectacular of their installations is perhaps the construction of a touchscreen console to let random people draw the patterns that appeared on the Dexia tower, a well-known landmark of Brussels’ nightscape (lots of LEDs – about 305000). User-generated content the size of a building.

They’re also active in the field of Generative Art, an example of which they made for the Grand Casino of Vienna.

She showed another example, called Binary Waves, were a number of panels rotate, and emit lights and sounds, depending on the traffic flow of cars and pedestrians on a nearby bridge.

Of course, once again, they are more well-known and publicized abroad then they are in their own country. This seems to be the case of most of our art and performance scene (my cousin told me, and she should know).

I’m awed and cheered by this mix between technology and creativity. Very functional components being used for totally non-functional purposes – tinkering and making things that are just there to make you dream, feel and think.