Casper Engels 


Visual artist, performer and scenographer Casper Josef Engels (°2003, Belgium) explores the dynamics of public space, focusing on overlooked, non-private, and economically “uninteresting” environments. Through his media art, Engels examines the boundaries between the private and public realms, challenging societal norms and prompting reflection on these often unseen divides.

As an artistic director, Engels reshapes public spaces by reframing everyday moments and altering perceptions of reality. His practice integrates digital and videographic concepts, seamlessly blending images into installations that appear both natural and uncanny. By embedding visual elements into windows and everyday settings, his work dissolves the distinction between the real and the fictional, inviting viewers to critically question the structures—both visible and invisible—that define their world and shape their perceptions.






Exhibitions

                                                                                                                                   
                           

2024



‘CaKafonie Café’ with Kasper Claes 
Performance, happening 
Cultureel Centrum De Steiger, Menen 

‘The Vastness of Images Cast Overboard’, live music event by Nachtlawaai
commissioned by Sound of Antwerp 
Stormkop, Antwerpen 

‘Indefinable, Between Nature and Industry’
Video installation,  (sound by Kasper Claes)
Asiat-Park, Vilvoorde, Brussel, HORST

‘Stimanipolution’ group exhibition, Open Senses Lab
‘Shadows Behind The Window’ 
Video installation, sound  
Brussel, GLUON

‘Evicted’ group exhibition, Leonard Wertelaers, 
Kasper Claes
Video installation 
Hasselt 

‘Within the Walls of The Museum’
Sculpture, video installation
Hasselt, PXL Gallery


2023



‘Distilled‘ group exhibition, Open Senses Lab, Peter de Cupere 
‘Transience carries society’
Sculpture, living insects
CC Maasmechelen

‘Unsolved’
Sculpture, video installation, performance, live music 
Lindy Versyck
Hasselt, PXL Music

‘The Dinner’ group exhibition, Open Senses Lab
‘Data Closet’
Video installation
Brussel, GLUON

‘Liberation 3’ group exhibition, PXL-MAD
‘Data Closet’
Video installation
Hasselt, Z33

‘Liberation 3’ group exhibition, PXL-MAD
‘Day to Night’
Video installation
Gent, SMAK


2022



‘Préoccupé(e)’ group exhibition, Open Senses Lab
‘Transience carries society’
Sculpture, living insects
Brussel, GLUON





Education



PXL-MAD Hasselt, 2021-2024
Bachelor of Arts - Open Senses Lab

Sint-Lucas Antwerpen, 2017-2021
Fine Arts





Email            casper.engels@hotmail.com 
Instagram    casper3engels


Gazing Up at My Projection
2023                                                                                                           

In creating a self-portrait that aligned with my expectations, I reflected deeply on my self-image and how it is shaped by both myself and others. My physical appearance became a key element in this exploration, serving as a gateway to questions of identity: Who am I? How do I see myself? How do I wish to be seen by others?

The final image captures a triadic perspective—looking both down on and up at itself, as if viewed from a frog’s perspective. This interplay reflects a dialogue between the projected self, the observing self, and the real self, symbolizing a unity of distinct yet interconnected facets. This triadic relationship echoes philosophical ideas like Hegel’s dialectic of thesis, antithesis, and synthesis, offering a framework to explore harmony within multiplicity.

Through this work, I sought to delve into how we perceive ourselves, inviting viewers to contemplate the tension and harmony between these facets of identity.



Obscured in Public
2024          
                                                                                                                                               


For my bachelor thesis final jury, I explored alternative exhibition spaces on and around campus that conveyed a sense of the hidden. One installation occupied a stairwell leading to the basement—a seldom-used transitional space in the school’s public domain. This “modern cave” featured a door depicting a dimly lit space punctuated by the occasional sound of heavy industrial tools, disrupting the quiet play of light and evoking an uncanny sense of discovery.

The second work unfolded in the garage of a nearby shopping complex, where the jury viewed a film through the windows of a van. The film offered an absurd reinterpretation of the building, blending the mundane setting with a surreal cinematic experience. Both installations engaged the imagination, blurring lines between reality and perception by reimagining overlooked spaces and familiar elements within their specific contexts.



Indefinable, Between Nature and Industry
2024                                                                                                                                                                       

A week before Horst Festival 2024, during the build-up and as part of an event for the workers on-site, third-year bachelor students presented their work at the Asiat location, a space teeming with construction and overgrown nature. A former machine room served as the setting for a project where raw industrial elements contrasted sharply with the surrounding greenery.

The work combined footage from inside and outside the space, using light, montage, and sound design by Kasper Claes to blur the boundaries between the two environments. This hallucinatory installation explored the tension between nature and industry. Inspired by the use of windows in painting to suggest alternate dimensions, the presentation disoriented viewers, prompting reflections on their perception of reality and the meaning of the environment.




Shadows Behind the Window
2024
                                                                                


The project at Gluon featured four projected images on the building’s facade, visible to passersby. These window projections in a public space suggested an unseen presence inside, weaving an abstract narrative that intrigued and puzzled viewers.

The images included empty white spaces, shadow plays, a landscape on a glass door with a metal grid, a falling figure against the sky, and a cave formed by light and shadow. Custom soundscapes accompanied the projections, with moments of silence heightening the tension and captivating some viewers while others missed the display.

The projections blurred the lines between private and public space, with figures such as a man, a woman, and a falling character symbolizing the subconscious, paradise, and reality. The voyeuristic perspective added an extra layer of tension, making viewers feel both observed and implicated in the scene.



Within the Walls of the Museum                                                        

2024 


Voyeurism and exhibitionism converge as the camera captures every gesture of the artist, exposing the raw essence of his thoughts and emotions. This blend of observation and introspection invites viewers into the depths of his mind. From a bird's-eye view, the projection reveals the artist in a studio with stark white walls and floors, lost in thought and movement, fully exposed. These white walls become a canvas for reflection, embodying the artist's inner turmoil and contemplation without words.

The works in this exhibition explore the tension of presenting art in the 'white cube,' using the walls and space itself as the medium, rather than fitting studio-made work into the exhibition space.       
                                                                                                                                                               


Unsolved       
2023            

                                                                               

The debut solo exhibition rejected the traditional white cube, opting instead for the raw basement of the PXL music school. This gritty setting, with exposed concrete, rusty iron, and broken stone, perfectly complemented works from the past two years, unified by similar industrial and tactile elements.

The space itself became an active participant, with hanging cables, a solitary central door, and ventilation tubes shaping the atmosphere. In collaboration with Lindy Versecky, known for her absurd synthesized tones, the exhibition transformed into an immersive experience. Sculptural pieces, such as a concrete VR headset activated by visitors and a fence with a screen casting flickering light on a pale face, interacted dynamically with Lindy’s live performance, creating a striking dialogue between the visual and auditory 



Day To Night   

2023

 

For a group exhibition at SMAK, inspired by Philippe Van Snick’s 3650 days/3650 nights, the cyclical nature of time was explored through sculpture and video. Using a rectangular bluestone with a carved circular opening, daylight was filmed gradually expanding through the stone, forming a full circle, and fading into night. This footage was projected through the carved hole, creating a trompe-l’oeil effect that simulated piercing the exhibition ceiling and connecting the space to the sky. The work blurred boundaries between exterior and interior, nature and artifice, prompting reflections on the origins and perception of images.



Data Closet

2023



“Consuming food and images goes hand in hand for me. Can you have an oculair obsession in addition to an oral one? In addition to obesity ('eating full') also Oboculas? Just as the mouth hangs on the mother's breast and above the toilet, so the eyes above this D.C.”
—Frank Theys