Choose and Change
Since 2003, Choose and Change has been an ongoing project in which the static nature of objects is continually given a dynamic interpretation.
Thirty-six small (25x25x25cm), recognisable polyester forms serve as building blocks for constructions, videos, and installations. After each use, they can be dismantled and prepared again for a new configuration.
Each constellation gives the forms a new meaning. In this way, the project continuously deepens its exploration of choice, action, and transformation — an artistic inquiry spanning more than two decades, in which the boundaries between image, object, and movement are constantly redefined.
Fast Change versus Slow Change
Two complementary videos form the foundation of this project. In both, I wear a T-shirt bearing the word Change.
At the time, ‘transformation’ was not yet an overarching theme but rather an intuitive search: how could static images or paintings become dynamic or shift in form?
Later, Jan Boelen, then artistic director of Z33, introduced the term transformation as an overarching concept — a notion that has since clearly defined the core of my artistic practice.
2007 – Choose and Change No. 1
2012 – Choose and Change No. 2
The first video work serves as an introduction to the project. With my head positioned just outside the frame, I rapidly alter the connections between five different forms. The T-shirt with the word Change underlines that transformation itself is the central goal.
Where the first video seemed to portray change for the sake of change — quick, unconscious, almost mechanical — Choose and Change No. 2 reverses that principle.
Here I am visibly present in a meditative pose for 55 minutes. I wear the same T-shirt, which forms a striking contrast with the stillness of the meditation. Change happens continuously, even in apparent stillness: the body grows until a certain age and then begins to age again. There is never a truly static phase.
Transformations
2005 – Dueling Pistols
In this video, two pistols move to the rhythm of Dueling Banjos (from the film Deliverance, 1972).
The weapons take turns firing at each other, always returning to their starting position — ready for the next shot.
The playful rhythm of the music contrasts sharply with the underlying threat of violence. The video holds up a mirror to humanity: the endless cycle of aggression, repetition, and destruction.
2006 – The Catcher of the Cross
In this video, a figure inside a church tries to catch a flying cross with a fishing net.
The scene is shown from the catcher’s point of view. Is this reality, a vision, a dream, or a game? Or is it a search for faith itself — an attempt to grasp the intangible?
The work was created for the exhibition Deus ex, Ithaka 13, Leuven.
2006 – The Distance to Morsmaille and Back
This installation consists of two monitors connected by a metal tube.
On the screens appear messages in Morse code: We have got e-mail too and So do we — an ironic reference to global communication and outdated media. Through image and sound, the viewer is encouraged to move through the space to read and understand both messages.
The work was selected and developed for the exhibition POWER PLAYS – Interior Spaces Exterior Desires (Freespace) at Z33, Hasselt.
2006 – Unidentified Arcade
This project was developed for the initiative Zien (Seeing) by CC De Breughel, Bree — an annual exhibition based on the senses.
It consists of a video and an installation and plays with the way television images are manipulated by various techniques, often without our noticing.
The video shows children playing with shapes that do not actually exist. Using greenscreen (chroma key), separately filmed elements were inserted into the scene, transforming reality into a playful and imaginative situation.
The installation contains all the shapes featured in the video. Through shifting light effects, the shadow of a UFO moves constantly across the space, creating the illusion of motion.
2006 – Installation for a Selfish Rapper
This installation is a caricature of the gangsta-rap phenomenon. A pair of sunglasses, a fast car, a vanity mirror, and a lever are available to the rapper who wishes to glorify himself.
When the lever is pulled, a pistol moves into firing position. The action is filmed live and shown on an LCD screen visible to the audience.
The installation was created for the exhibition BASTART at Villa Basta, Houthalen.
The music was composed by 18-year-old beatboxer George Ocloo, who recorded an 18-minute piece in a single take. Through a light modulator, the lights react directly to the rhythm of his sounds.
2007 – Moving Installation
A small installation with five polyester shapes moves through the exhibition space.
Using stop-motion animation, I continuously alter the construction and photograph each intermediate stage. When edited together, the sequence creates the illusion of a moving object.
The video was made for the exhibition BASTART at CC De Kollebloem, Puurs. Curator Vivianne Mertens added small ceramic blocks to the installation.
2007 – The Border Speech
A traveller stands before a barrier; his luggage consists of his own brain.
On his back he carries either a pistol or a bomb — depending on the configuration. In front of him rotates a tube bearing a stop hand and a pointing hand, while a loudspeaker repeatedly chants go home.
The installation confronts the viewer with the realities of exclusion and migration. It was created for the exhibition BASTART at CC ’t Getouw, Mol.
2008 – Liquid Forms Through Space
This work is the first video in which I experiment with the materiality of form itself. It shows a projection of liquid polyester swirling and rotating through space.
The mass slowly changes from liquid to solid, after which it is mysteriously propelled into the distant depths of space.
The projection setup is built three-dimensionally using an aluminium framework in which nine separate panels are arranged at varying depths. This creates a pronounced spatial effect and enhances the sense of movement and depth.
2016 – Digital 3D Scans
In 2016, all forms were 3D-scanned at FLACC (Genk).
In an animation (2017), the digital shapes appear as a new library of possibilities.
2017 – Perpetrator and Victim Rotation
Click the image below to view this work under the section Transformation of Matter.
2018 – The Bending Monument
Click the image below to view this work under the section Transformation with Technology.
2023 – Aluminium Construction System
In this project, I designed an aluminium construction system. The concept remained dormant for several years but was revisited in 2023 and has since become a recurring thread in my studio practice — an open framework in which existing works can attach, detach, and continually transform within space.
The connecting pieces — originally L-, T-, or multi-directional — were disassembled and reassembled using stronger rivets and adhesive into a cross-shaped structure opening in all directions.
2024 – Contextual Shift
During the exhibition Transformation Studio No. 1: Warm or Cold at CC De Adelberg, original shapes were integrated into the changing context of the exhibition itself.
2025 – Transformation Studio
The Choose and Change project found a new translation within the broader functioning of my Transformation Studio.
The aluminium construction system was fully integrated into it.
The polyester forms are now reused across various projects, both intra muros and beyond.
