Responding to the context of the Antwerp Notarishuis, Pierre Mertens makes various interventions in this monumental building. He starts from the notary symbols “scales, quill pen and book”, which he takes as a starting point for a work. On the monumental glass front door he wrote the notary saying “Lex est quodcumque notamus” or “what we write becomes law” in Braille.
For his participation in the Flux art route on the Leie (Some Loopholes ain’t so Loopy), Pierre Mertens took on the role of a notary.
He writes a notarial statement to the visitor, whereby he can type in a secret or quote, and he guarantees that all traces of this are erased. The visitor may take this statement with him or leave it in the archive of non-traceable secrets. From October 2015 this work is also part of the exhibition at the notary house.
Responding to the growing problem of homeless people and asylum seekers, he is working out a project with colleague Dries Segers in which they both offer the locations of homeless people for sale notarially. He does this in consultation with the services that take care of the homeless. The notarial posters hanging on the tables of the homeless people hang on the tables in the call rooms. The posters are shown at the places where homeless people are taken care of and the end product is also shown in the Q46 project room, which is thus presenting its second proposition to the public.
