Christophe Muylaert

This installation examines our tendency to perceive connections and meanings where none objectively exist. Inspired by David Hume’s critique of causality, it challenges the viewer to question how we construct reality.

The work consists of three elements: a 3D-printed pedestal, a 3D-printed chicken egg, and a real metal spoon, casually placed beside the egg. Their arrangement evokes automatic associations—an action, a cause-and-effect relationship, an absent eater. Yet these meanings arise solely in the observer, shaped by cognitive reflexes and conceptual frameworks.

Just as Hume argued that causality is a habit of thought rather than an inherent feature of reality, this installation reveals that we do not perceive the world directly but through mental constructs. The Anatomy of Absent Causes invites the viewer to critically examine these interpretations and recognize the limits of our knowledge.