Ben Weir

artistiek onderzoek - installatie - publicatie - publieke ruimte - schrijven - tekenen

I work within the discipline (as opposed to the profession) of architecture. I draw, write, research and build spatial interventions. I discuss the situation of the contemporary city, blending fiction, commentary and productive critique. I am interested in potentiality, the non-specific and the un-finished. I research the collision of different intentions, ideologies, power structures, socio-economic forces through time and their physical manifestations in built contexts. I dissect, re-present and interrogate existing urban artefacts through additive processes, in order to find out something new about their current condition, situation, or relationship to us. I speculate on an alternative life for these urban artefacts. I studied architecture at University of Ulster (2012) and Glasgow School of Art (2015). I gradually side-stepped into artistic practice following immense frustration in the architecture world, leaving to accept a place in the Jan van Eyck Academie (2018).


Peutz Sconce - A folded stainless-steel sconce, translating a fragment of the work of Heerlen architect Frits Peutz (1896-1974) into a domestic object. Stainless-steel, mild steel, nuts and bolts, LED tube lamp, 760 x 555 x 309mm Produced during a residency at Greylight Projects, Heerlen (2022)
Radiator Benches - Permanent installation at Catalyst Arts, Belfast. Produced for the show 'Core is Concrete' curated by Kate Murphy. (2022) Steel beam, steel fin radiator, steel box-section, threaded rod, nuts, bolts, rubber, paint, 2000 x 500 x 460mm; 1250 x 500 x 460mm Photography: © Simon Mills
Radiator Benches - Permanent installation at Catalyst Arts, Belfast. Produced for the show 'Core is Concrete' curated by Kate Murphy. (2022) Steel beam, steel fin radiator, steel box-section, threaded rod, nuts, bolts, rubber, paint, 2000 x 500 x 460mm; 1250 x 500 x 460mm Photography: © Simon Mills
Charged Space - A vitrine and a lamppost, a night time street scene inside a former psychiatric hospital. Solo show at 3bisF Lieu d'art Contemporain, Curated by Diane Pigeau. Plywood, plexiglass, steel, paint, lighting fixtures (2022)
Casa Vilaró, Axonometric with Alterations Highlighted - Graphite, ink, collage, digital print (2020)
Casa Vilaró - Study of Casa Vilaró (built 1930) produced during residency with Fundació Mies van der Rohe, Barcelona, ​​and BOZAR, Brussels. Pigmented MDF, steel plinths, dimensions variable. (2020) Photography: © Jóse Hevia
Casa Vilaró - Study of Casa Vilaró (built 1930) produced during residency with Fundació Mies van der Rohe, Barcelona, ​​and BOZAR, Brussels. (2020) Pigmented MDF, steel plinths, dimensions variable. Photography: © Jóse Hevia
Brick Poems - A series of compositions made with bricks salvaged from the demolition sites of historic buildings in Belfast. (2020)
1600=1600 - A fire is inserted into a Modernist building that was never supposed to contain one, yet somehow still belongs. Aerated-concrete block, concrete, fire brick, stainless-steel stove accessories, 4.89 x 4.32 x 6.65m. (2019) Photography: © Werner Mantz lab
1600=1600 - A fire is inserted into a Modernist building that was never supposed to contain one, yet somehow still belongs. Aerated-concrete block, concrete, fire brick, stainless-steel stove accessories, 4.89 x 4.32 x 6.65m. (2019) Photography: © Werner Mantz lab