LAb[au] asbl / vzw is a laboratory for art and urbanism run by Manuel Abendroth and Jérôme Decock; working on the crossing point of art and architecture; having its roots in conceptual, concrete and kinetic art.

  is a group of artists founded in 1997 by Manuel Abendroth and Jérôme Decock, -and based in Brussels, Belgium. The imbrication of theory and experimentation [labo] and artistic practice [bau], in direct reference to the Bauhaus, is at the origin of the name and the artistic approach, which explores the influence of new technologies and recent materials on the forms, methods and fields of contemporary art. The collaborative structure works with artists such as Els Vermang (2003-2022), or Thibault Drouillon (since 2022), among many others.

In their practice, LAb[au] investigates the relation between art and language not only by means of written words and other forms of coded language, semantics, but also through signs, or semiotics. Likewise, they formulate a linguistic approach, porting information and communication science in the field of art. 

Many of LAb[au]’s works originate in concepts specific to the field of art, such as the monochrome. This leads them to question the limits of language, since the meaning of the monochrome, the fascination of the void, is not described in its definition but can be apprehended only through a wider understanding of art. In this way, they address the tradition of painting through terminology while contextualizing it in its cultural perspective.

However, any language can be encoded into secondary media where the use of colours, shapes, patterns… forms a visual language. LAb[au] utilizes these different media while speaking of syntax, grammar and vocabulary. In so doing, they further research possible ways to translate, transcode different artistic expressions from one media into another.

Like a librarian, LAb[au] deploys rows of books exploring infinite combinations of forms, or listing all the possible ways to fill or blacken an empty white page. In this way, their rule-based approach examines the materiality, process and very concept of art. LAb[au]'s practice is rooted in the tradition of conceptual art, where tautologies and fundamental units such as space and time form the basic artistic vocabulary. Using algorithms, the artists contextualize these notions in our contemporary world.