SOLAR SAFARI, Pieterjan Ginckels
12 x 16,9 cm, 436 p, ills colour/bw, softcover, English
ISBN 9789490800772
design: 6′56″
edition of 300
March 2018
SOLAR SAFARI hunts down Belgium’s finest photovoltaic compositions. When you flip through this lookbook of domestic scalps, the echoes of fomo, fitspo and avocado toast greet you in endless variations.
In line with PJG’s previous works and performances, SOLAR SAFARI is all about cultural archaeology and technological critique. Target of the project is the privately owned and installed photovoltaic panel. PJG takes a field trip across Belgium, documenting the haphazard solar panel configurations on private rooftops, providing us with a quasi-exhaustive number of compositions trouvées.
His photographic evidence, paired with Instagram-mined wordiness, transforms and criticizes the footage on the different levels at play. Complementing this chunk of geometric superficialism is an overview of Speed Trips, the performative sightseeing Ginckels developed over the past decade. Both method actor and easy rider, the SPEED TRIPPER surrenders to its context and, equipped with necessary props, finds herself at the center of mediation.