Videoworks and 3D installations
Video- and 3D installations
uit 2006 tot 2025
(klik op de afbeelding om het werk groter te bekijken)
stuur een bericht naar de kunstenaar
A picture held us captive. (Philosophical Investigations, §115)
2025This 3D printed artwork explores the tension between language, meaning, and reality through an internal paradox. The billboard firmly states: "There is no left. There is no right."—a claim that seems to suggest that the concepts of ‘left’ and ‘right’ are not absolute or objective but depend on context, language use, and perspective. Yet, the work immediately undermines this assertion by placing the words "Left" and "Right" on the platform beneath the sign, presenting these concepts as fixed points of reference. This tension closely aligns with Ludwig Wittgenstein’s ideas on language and meaning. In his Philosophical Investigations, he argues that the meaning of a word arises from its use within a language game. ‘Left’ and ‘right’ do not possess an intrinsic, universal essence; rather, they acquire meaning through how we apply them. The billboard appears to embrace this idea by denying the existence of ‘left’ and ‘right’ as absolute categories. Yet at the same time, the artwork reveals how difficult it is to think outside such concepts—the words on the platform still force us into a binary orientation. This creates a paradox: if left and right do not exist, why are they named? In this way, the artwork exposes how language both enables and constrains our thinking.
Cours de sémiotique avancée. Entre le signe et la fonction, où est le réel?
2025This art installation consists of two 3D-printed pedestals covered with blackened artificial grass, evoking a natural setting within an artificial framework. One pedestal holds a 3D-printed bird, titled Le Signifiant, representing the 'signifier' in semiotics—the physical form of a sign. The other pedestal features a 3D-printed birdhouse, titled Le Référent, symbolizing the 'referent'—the actual object in reality to which a sign refers. The work engages with Jean Baudrillard’s theory of simulacra and hyperreality. Le Signifiant, the 3D-printed bird, is a simulacrum: a sign without an original, a copy of something that never existed. This reflects Baudrillard’s notion that in contemporary culture, simulations detach from reality yet are still perceived as real. In contrast, Le Référent, the birdhouse, retains a functional link to reality—it can serve as a real shelter despite its artificial origin. This juxtaposition highlights the blurred boundaries between reality and simulation. An AI-generated video accompanies the installation, showing the 3D-printed bird gradually transforming into a real, moving bird. This evolution raises the question: does an AI-created entity gain referential status, or does it remain a signifier? By exploring these shifts in meaning, the installation prompts reflection on how signs and simulations shape our perception of reality.
Physis
2025Physis, derived from phyō ("to grow"), in Pre-Socratic philosophy referred to an inner process of becoming and unfolding. Nature was not a static given but a dynamic force with its own drive for development. This contrasts with the modern scientific view, which sees nature as a mechanical system, explainable through laws and causality. The ancient concept of physis is revived in ecological thinking, where nature is not merely an object but a network of interactions and emergent processes. This installation confronts the viewer with the boundary between life and lifelessness, growth and stillness. By placing the coral on a platform and introducing minimal movement through an AI-generated video, the viewer is invited to reflect on how we understand and perceive nature. Here, physis is not conceived as a collection of objects but as a process—a continuous dynamic of formation, transformation, and transience. The installation encourages the viewer to break away from the modern scientific perspective, in which nature is primarily understood in terms of lifeless matter and fixed laws. By giving the coral a subtle, almost imperceptible motion, we are challenged to look and experience anew - to unlearn and unsee what we thought we understood.
Politique Indigène
2025Politique Indigène reconstructs Léon Rom’s notorious colonial residence and the yard where a gallows once stood, using 3D printing techniques. Rom, infamous for his brutality in the Congo Free State, decorated his home with skulls, becoming a symbol of the systemic oppression and atrocities of Belgian colonialism. The diorama's are presented together with a video that alternates between historical footage and AI-generated scenes, presenting an idealized, fictionalized version of colonization. The interactions between colonizers and locals appear peaceful yet remain deeply paternalistic and disruptive. The video reflects the politique indigène, a colonial policy that gave the illusion of autonomy for the indigenous population while maintaining control through coercion. It reveals how this policy concealed the oppression at the heart of Belgian colonialism. By blending historical footage with AI-generated content, Politique Indigène invites viewers to question how colonial history is remembered and presented. The work critiques how histories are reconstructed and how personal and geopolitical narratives shape our understanding of the past. It offers a critical visualization of the Belgian colonial project and encourages reflection on its enduring impact.
Qualitas Occultae
2025Qualitas Occultae is an interactive light-based installation that explores the invisible forces shaping our world, inspired by Newton’s concept of gravity and a childhood fascination with remote activation. The work features a small “flip-flap” figure under a glass dome, powered by a photovoltaic element. When the space is empty, the figure remains still. However, a motion sensor triggers a strong directional light as visitors enter, illuminating the dome and causing the figure to move, seemingly animated by an unseen force. This installation reflects on the mystery of action at a distance, a concept central to Newton’s understanding of nature but rejected by Leibniz, who dismissed it as an occult property. The piece also evokes the wonder of childhood discovery, like the marvel of solar panels and remote controls—technologies that enable objects to move without direct contact. By allowing viewers to witness a simple yet magical transformation, Action at a Distance seeks to reignite awe at the hidden forces governing our reality, much like Newton’s contemporaries once questioned how gravity could act across empty space. In an age where technology has made the extraordinary routine, this work encourages us to pause and rediscover the mysteries that quietly shape our world. Balancing scientific explanation with a sense of magic in natural phenomena, the installation invites us to reconnect with the marvel of the unseen.
The Anatomy of Absent Causes
2025This 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.
All the things you cannot see
2024The video installation centers on an interview with a young woman discussing anxiety, disorientation, loss of control, and psychological splitting. She describes fears of being observed and judged. Using brief found footage segments, the installation visualizes her condition, reflecting universal fears and uncertainties. By juxtaposing visually analogous fragments, the work highlights the metaphorical nature of thought. Scientists appear as symbols of power in psychology, exposing the illusion of objectivity and its role in creating hierarchical, dehumanizing dynamics. The metaphor of fermentation prompts reflection on the limits of knowledge, the ontology of the unobservable, and how conceptual frameworks shape understanding and power structures.
Tête-de-Nègre/White Innocence
2022The video installation consists of three sequences of images, based on found footage from Belgium's colonial history and American visual culture. The images make visible the binary, moral-theoretical oppositions that constitute Western thought (e.g., civilized-savage, uninhibited-disciplined, white-black, rational-emotional). In this way, the work seeks to reveal the associative fields and cultural archives (a term from Edward Said) that underpin the dominant Western self-image. The images construct a semi-imaginary history, a "theory-fiction" that indirectly and obliquely highlights certain aspects of historical and social reality. However, attempting to interpret the images literally, factually, or historically is futile. Above all, the work aims to evoke a sense of estrangement and alienation in the viewer, potentially prompting reflection on the racial ideologies and stereotypes that, often unconsciously, shape our thinking.
Post hoc ergo propter hoc (bis)
2013Double projection. By temporally and spatially unraveling an iconic image (the WTC attack), the relationship between correlation and causality is called into question. David Hume already pointed out that we only perceive the succession of events, not the causal connection itself.
Si fallor sum
2013Videoprojectie - installatie
Beyond
2006Projection on wall with non-functional door handle.
La flêche de Zénon
2006Videoprojectie en olie op doek De titel refereert naar een gelijknamig werk van René Magritte
Boobytrap
2006Videoprojectie en installatie.
Ding an sich 1
2006Videoprojectie en olie op doek. Een banaal gebruiksvoorwerp komt in het volle daglicht te staan.
Ding an sich 2
2006Videoprojectie en olie op doek. Een banaal gebruiksvoorwerp in het volle daglicht te staan.
Der mönch am meer
2006Videoprojectie op beschilderd doek. Referentie naar het gelijknamige werk van David Caspar Friedrich.
Grundlosigkeit
2006Videoprojectie op muur en onbeschilderd doek. Combinatie van een narratief en een abstract leesbare 'structuur', beide in éénzelfde beeld vervat.
Je est un autre
2006Videoprojectie op muur en olie op doek. Portret
Tussen hangen en vallen
2006Single channel video. 'Tussen hangen en vallen' is een oud vissersgezegde dat verwijst naar het moment net voor zonsondergang. Deze onzekerheidstoestand is een metafoor voor de condition humaine, voor een bestaan 'in suspensie'.
Pending
2006Videoprojectie en olie op doek. Pending staat zowel voor "hangend" als "het hangt af van (de perceptie)"
Différance
2006Dubbele projectie op boekwerken, intermitterend synchroon waardoor op bepaalde ogenblikken een harmonische beweging ontstaat. Différance is een homofoon woord en een filosofisch concept van Jacques Derrida met betrekking tot de betekenis van woorden.
Post hoc ergo propter hoc
2006Dubbele projectie, waarbij een visuele en mentale associatie wordt opgeroepen die de relatie tussen correlatie en causaliteit bevraagt.
Sous les pavés, c'est la plage
2006B&W videoprojectie op (gekleurde) olie doek. Toepassing van het visuele principe van de 'aquarelillusie'.
synchronicity-chance
2006Single channel video. Identieke beelden volgen elkaar op met een verschillende voice-over, als illustratie van de relatie tussen taal, de interpretatie van beelden en de ervaring van de werkelijkheid. Er zijn geen feiten, enkel interpretaties.
Suspension of disbelief
2006Videoprojectie van de schaduw van een object op datzelfde object, met minimale beeldvariaties. Verwijzing naar de grotallegorie van Plato.
Swimming
2006Videoprojectie en olie op doek.
Tranche de vie
2006Videoprojectie op muur en onbeschilderd doek. Het doek fungeert alternerend als projectieoppervlak en als decorum, wat leidt tot een veranderende ontologische status.