Machiel Beijaert 1996
Netherlands
wedjat-machiel.com
Thesis: The calling of a thing
The work of Machiel starts from the ever-changing world and takes you the viewer into an unpredictable realm. Through videos and installations he tells tales that walk the fine line between being real and fictitious – that of a scooter that ended up on the bottom of the ocean from the perspective of the scooter itself, or that of an air filtering machine in a gloomy bomb shelter that never got to be used. His work tries to break through the norms and conventions of our society. Why do we act in certain ways and is it possible to change our perspective? With a surreal and melancholic touch, he wishes to frame the states that objects or beings can transform between and investigate their microcosms. Be they houseplants that stayed behind on the street as trash, slowly disappearing – plastic plants blending in with living plants in a hotel lobby ecosystem, or an endless topiary fight against godlike boundaries: His work wishes to outline the helplessness and indecisiveness they are prey to and protect them from the strong surge of time passing by.
A bunker
straight-right-straight-right-straight-right-DIVINE