‘Pl. du Jeu de Balle’, also known as ‘Vossenplein’ (Fox Square) and ‘Old Market’. Today, ‘Place du Jeu de Balle’ is one of Europe's most well known flea markets, located in Brussels. Towards the end of the Industrial Revolution, the land that the market sits on today existed as a simple field, where factories were soon to be built. The purpose of the factories were to make locomotives, but this failed to have success and so in 1859, the square was divided in half. The first half was for the Fire Station and the second half was for the public to play pelota ball (also known as jeu de balle). In 1873, traders began to sell their goods and since then the market has been an active hub for the traders and general public in and around Brussels. It is active seven days a week.
Each morning, items are placed on tables, in boxes, or on a large, spread out piece of cloth on the floor. Each day, the market seller will change their display and throughout the morning and early afternoon, somebody will purchase an item, or take it in their hands to look at it, and that object will be subtracted from the composition. By photographically recording the table, the objects become fixated, just as light is fixated on the film-roll, and by turning these objects into a framed composition, the original functional or decorative purpose is removed.
A collection of materials are woven across the images: crystal, glass, pearl, shell, chinaware, porcelain, ivory, plastic, tin, satin, velvet, et cetera. The combination of shapes, colour and material criss-cross, embellishing the framed image. The previous worth and value of these onceupon a time treasures has diminished. Today, they are snippets of an old time glory and anexample for domestic living.
By zooming in on only the objects, the buzz around the market has dissapeared. As a matter of fact, this could be any flea market. However it was important that the location remained the same because of it’s history and in order to create a collection that comes together as one piece, just like the tables come together.
