THE TALES
2019
The Constant Glitch, group show, M Leuven, 2021 , Collection M Leuven
Copyright : Steven Decroos
This trilogy of works approaches the human quest for the unattainable. The viewer is invited to take a close look at each diorama from god-like perspective while listening to a story. As a myth, a bedtime story or even a tale, one is free to believe in it, to get carried away, or to seek a morality out of it. Anyway, these stories have neither beginning nor end, and the protagonists are only just trying to find a way out. To do so, they need to talk to trees, animals and even the past. Unfortunately, each attempt is doomed to failure; each communication is disrupted, out of reach, impossible.
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Cette trilogie d’œuvres s’intéresse à la quête de l’homme pour l’inatteignable. Adoptant un point de vue divin, chacun.e est invité.e à observer attentivement le diorama tout en écoutant une histoire racontée. À l'écoute d'un mythe, d’une histoire pour s'endormir, ou encore d’une fable, chacun.e est libre de se laisser porter, d’y croire, ou d'en tirer une morale. Quoi qu'il en soit, les histoires n'ont ni commencement ni fin, et les protagonistes essaient ni plus ni moins de trouver une issue. Pour cela, ils doivent entrer en contact avec des arbres, des animaux voire même le passé. Malheureusement, leur tentative est vaine, la communication se révèle hors de portée, perturbée, impossible.
Push Your Luck, exhibition view, Island, Brussels, 2019
THE COSMONAUTES, THE CAVERN AND THE ANGEL
Three cosmonauts travel back to the past, trying to change the course of History :
- Hey my boy, look at these people. What are these shiny suits made for? And the tubes? Can’t they breathe without them ?
- I think they are space travelers. My great-great grandma told me many stories about them. A long time ago, humans used to travel in the future and report back what they had discovered. At the time, they were looking for solutions to their chaotic present …. fantasizing about a brighter future inhabited by supermen. In a way, they expected us to be angels.
The Cosmonauts, the Cavern and the Angel, diorama, mix media, 45X60X130cm and audio (Stewart Saunders), unique edition, 2019
Exhibition view, Push Your Luck, Island, Brussels, 2019
They expected us to be Angels, screenprint, 45x60cm unframed and 51x66cm framed, (ed. 1/10), 2019
THE PATHFINDERS, THE HAND AND THE TREES
A crow perched on a tree, tells the story of several pathfinders setting campaign across the forests :
Back in the 21st century, seven pathfinders campaigned across the forests. They needed to talk to trees. It was crucial. For a full year, the pathfinders spoke to these trees, meditating on their roots but the trees remained silent .
The pathfinders were on the verge of a nervous breakdown. One of them couldn’t take it anymore: “I can’t talk with people, how can I talk with trees? I am fed up! fed up! fed up !”
The Pathfinders, the Hand and the Trees, diorama, mix media, 45X60X130cm and audio (Geoffrey Norris), unique edition, 2019
Exhibition view, Push Your Luck, Island, Brussels, 2019
I can’t talk with people. How can I talk with Trees?, screenprint (ed. 1/10), 45x60cm unframed and 51x66cm framed, 2019
THE WORKER, THE MIRROR AND THE PARROT
The only survivor of a tower collapse attempts to set up a society on an artificial island lost in the middle of the ocean :
Kaleem went on and on , making up all sorts of rules for the island’s inhabitants.
- Article 22. All creatures shall think out loud all the time. Article 23. All creatures shall work everyday. Article 24. On Sundays, all creatures shall meet to pray to the Invisible Hand. Article 25. …hum, I think I am done here. Do you want to add anything, Tota?
- “And we, eternal spectators, always, everywhere,
Look upon but never from the open seas.
It fills us. We construct it. It collapses.
We reconstruct it. And collapse ourselves.”
The Worker, the Mirror and the Parrot, diorama, mix media, 45X60X130cm and audio (Ramesh Nair), unique edition, 2019
Exhibition view, Push Your Luck, Island, Brussels, 2019
No help! No help! No help!, screenprint, 45x60cm unframed and 51x66cm framed, (ed. 1/10), 2019