Topologic

Crabeels’s work ‘Topologic’ records the prolonged contortions of a man attempting to put on, and to take off again, a piece of clothing. Here the body is used both as a terrain of experiment, and as a metaphor for artist’s labour of inhabiting space in general. The struggle between artist and material, in this case a three-piece suit, illustrates the creating process of an artist in a metaphorical way. A man is seen performing different movements against a neutral background. The man clumsily attempts to remove his waistcoat while keeping his jacket on. Because neither the man himself nor the background give an indication of any kind of narrative structure the viewer is lead to read the image as a ‘conductor’ or catalyst of certain emotions.