Artist Constructs Amazing Steel Maze in Former Belgian Coal Mine

Photo: Gijs van Vaerenbergh via Designboom

Installation view of Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout van Vaerenbergh’s latest piece.
Photo: Courtesy of Gijs van Vaerenbergh via Designboom.

A new installation featuring a huge labyrinth has opened at the art center C-Mine in Genk, Belgium. So if you want to get lost, this is the best place to do it.

Design Boom reported that Belgian artists and architects Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout van Vaerenbergh are the creators of the dazzling maze, which is one kilometer long and made of five-foot tall steel walls.

Some of these walls feature shapes cut out of the steel, offering viewers a “window” to other parts of the installation.

Photo: Gijs van Vaerenbergh via Designboom

Installation view of Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout van Vaerenbergh’s latest piece.
Photo: Courtesy of Gijs van Vaerenbergh via Designboom.

These geometric cut-outs, reminiscent of Richard Serra’s large-scale steel sculptures, provide guests with a disorienting and imposing experience.

Photo: Gijs van Vaerenbergh via Designboom

Installation view of Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout van Vaerenbergh’s latest piece.
Photo: Courtesy of Gijs van Vaerenbergh via Designboom.

Photo: Gijs van Vaerenbergh via Designboom

Installation view of Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout van Vaerenbergh’s latest piece.
Photo: Courtesy of Gijs van Vaerenbergh via Designboom.

The projects of Gijs van Vaerenbergh merge art and architecture to create fun artistic projects, such as the maze, or innovative solutions to engineering structures such as bridges and houses.

A former coal mine, the C-Mine art center used to be one of three major mines that transformed Genk from a small countryside village into a large town of over 65,000 residents coming from all over the world. C-Mine also hosted the 9th edition of Manifesta, which took place in 2012.

Photo: Gijs van Vaerenbergh via Designboom

Installation view of Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout van Vaerenbergh’s latest piece.
Photo: Courtesy of Gijs van Vaerenbergh via Designboom.


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