'Quasar' / 'The Roaring', 2017
The roaring – 2017 (glas, zwarte marmer, water, pigment)
There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity
because of the roaring of the sea and the waves,
men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world;
for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.…. Lucas, 21:25
The roaring is the antipode of the work 'quasar', a work light and Cristal clear, reflecting everything in its environment. In this work, everything is turned inwards, sucked in. The marble ball hanging above the blackness in a frozen moment. The text of Lucas scribbled on the surface. The approaching apocalypse!
The work needs to be seen indoors.
A Quasar (Quasi-stellar Radio Source) is an astronomical object, a very energetic and distant (thus ancient) active galactic nucleus. A quasar is generally seen as a compact region in the centre of a massive galaxy, that surrounds its supermassive black hole. Looking at a quasar, one is looking back into history, at the very birth of the universe, billions of years ago.
An Electrone Microscope photo shows in great detail an exposed five days old chicken embryo. The actual embryo looked like a tiny black stone: beautiful and horrible. The work ‘Quasar’ represents this embryo in crystal, surrounded by water, dead. Yet the whole environment is very much alive, reflected in the huge sphere, thus feeding the curiosity of the viewer. This work needs to be shown outdoors, in contradiction with 'the roaring'.
An Electrone Microscope photo shows in great detail an exposed five days old chicken embryo. The actual embryo looked like a tiny black stone: beautiful and horrible. The work ‘Quasar’ represents this embryo in crystal, surrounded by water, dead. Yet the whole environment is very much alive, reflected in the huge sphere, thus feeding the curiosity of the viewer. This work needs to be shown outdoors, in contradiction with 'the roaring'.
'the confession', 2018
audio, videoloop 2’, foto
This temporary installation in a confession chair was made for the exhibition 'Healing/heelkracht' in Poperinge(B). The spoken lyrics of Elbow's song, the ever moving black Faroese sea, some weights and an aereal photo of a mill destroyed during the first world war. A remarkable confession, inviting the viewer to give the absolution. (with thanks to the university of Ghent for the photo and the band Elbow for the use of the lyrics)
'So nothing else matters', 2013
short film
This installation is all about the fascination for the fragile body and the horror of the reality. Smell, sound, shape and color: in collaboration with the department of morphology, the film was displayed in the dissection room of the department.
This installation is all about the fascination for the fragile body and the horror of the reality. Smell, sound, shape and color: in collaboration with the department of morphology, the film was displayed in the dissection room of the department.
'Nepenthe/quells all sorrows with forgetfulness/24days', 2012
Installation with table, pills, glass, blue pigment
I walked with the river in kind of a dream
Hand in hand, the all-knowing river and me
To the glamour of rushes and deeply bowing trees
And drunk making blossom that blushed to be seen
I told him my sorrows and broken-down dreams
Confessed every lie, replayed every scene
He openly wept as he listened to me
And then, with the sun in the west, he showed me the sea
Elbow lyrics 'the river'
Hand in hand, the all-knowing river and me
To the glamour of rushes and deeply bowing trees
And drunk making blossom that blushed to be seen
I told him my sorrows and broken-down dreams
Confessed every lie, replayed every scene
He openly wept as he listened to me
And then, with the sun in the west, he showed me the sea
Elbow lyrics 'the river'
The word nepenthe first appears in the fourth book of Homer's Odyssey. (verses 220–221)
Figuratively, it means "that which chases away sorrow"; νη = ne = not, and πενθές = penthos = grief, sorrow, or mourning; so, literally, it means 'not-sorrow' or 'anti-sorrow'. In the Odyssey, Nepenthes pharmakon (i.e. an anti-sorrow drug) is a magical potion given to Helen by the Egyptian queen Polidamma. It quells all sorrows with forgetfulness.
Glass bowls contain 24 pills, one per day - every pill containing a short sentence, sometimes just a word, from the lyrics 'The River' from Elbow. I choose these lyrics because every time again, they give me the kind of soothing that I'm looking for. This installation is a small table on wheels, with four glass plates, a medical bowl with water, a glass containing pure blue pigment, pills and a description.
Figuratively, it means "that which chases away sorrow"; νη = ne = not, and πενθές = penthos = grief, sorrow, or mourning; so, literally, it means 'not-sorrow' or 'anti-sorrow'. In the Odyssey, Nepenthes pharmakon (i.e. an anti-sorrow drug) is a magical potion given to Helen by the Egyptian queen Polidamma. It quells all sorrows with forgetfulness.
Glass bowls contain 24 pills, one per day - every pill containing a short sentence, sometimes just a word, from the lyrics 'The River' from Elbow. I choose these lyrics because every time again, they give me the kind of soothing that I'm looking for. This installation is a small table on wheels, with four glass plates, a medical bowl with water, a glass containing pure blue pigment, pills and a description.