Catalogue Distance to Zero

Zeger Reyers makes imposing installations in which nature and artificiality are confronted with one another, thereby emphasising the manipulative character of the times in which we live. Everyday objects are combined with organic elements. For instance, he had toadstools growing out of furniture and equipment, and he had chairs sunk into the Oosterschelde [Eastern Scheldt, an estuary in Zeeland], where they became overgrown with mussels. Reyers’ inventive use of materials is always capable of surprising us and arousing a lack of preconceptions in his onlookers.

Despite his interest in nature and the environment, the imposing work of Reyers does not express any moral judgement over the treatment to which they are subjected by modern man. He is particularly interested in visualising the wonder and the power of nature in a way that is intense and sometimes disruptive. The result, nevertheless, is that onlookers become aware of the inherent vulnerability of the artificial environment that man has created.