Phosphoros, Olivier Weber, 2015 (centre piece of the table)

On the 2nd of March we hosted Uncertainty Scenarios - Session #8, a gathering with a contributions by Maarten Vanden Eynde, Pádraic E. Moore, Steeve Sabatto, Cécile Massart, Daniela De Paulis and Olivier Weber. The session focussed on the atomic age, nucleair storage and uranium.

The session was accompanied by a specially prepared menu for UV light with uranium glass ware and by a part of the 'Uncertainty Scenarios - Playlist' with music influenced by the Atomic age arranged by Amélie Bouvier and Marjolijn Dijkman.

Uncertainty Scenarios is a collective experimental research project that explores the ways people throughout history have tried to speculate, predict and anticipate the future and different attitudes that go along with this.

The project creates a common ground for a group of artists that all share interest in the concerns of the project and aims to establish a context for the development of new works. Together we reflect on possible consequences of current global socio-political or ecological issues and question our position as artists towards these.

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Short background on the uranium glass sculpture 'Phosphoros' by Olivier Weber:

Phosphoros is a reproduction on a reduced scale of a white marble sculpture made in 1842 for the choir of the cathedral "Saint Paul" of Liège. The romantic sculptor Jospeh Geefs had made this work as a commission from the clergy to illustrate the "triumph of Religion over the Genius of Evil." But his sculpture, which represented the Genius of Evil Itself, was rejected by the Church because of its distracting appeal and unhealthy beauty. "This devil is too sublime." A new commission was made to the elder brother of Joseph, Guillaume Geefs, who realised it in 1848. This original sculpture of Phosphoros was removed from the museum collection and stored because too many satanic worshipers disrupted the Museum's view by organising rituals celebrating its beauty. Olivier Weber designed the sculpture from rare photographic documents, since "The Angel of Evil" is unfortunately no longer visible by the public of the Royal Museums of Belgium since 2009.