In my practice, I begin with a desire for re-enchantment: a way of seeing that frees us from what we have come to take for granted. Traditionally, objects are seen as static and passive. However, I am interested in the active, responsive, and sometimes counterproductive role of material, and what this activity can reveal about how we organize and interpret the world. Many objects are so deeply rooted in their function that we hardly ever truly experience their presence anymore. I attempt to disrupt this ingrained view. Not by transforming the object into something radically different, but by shifting it just enough so that it once again becomes a question rather than a starting point. That moment arises for me when an object behaves differently than expected, for example, when it refuses or undermines its role. In these ruptures, space arises to look anew. Kinetics is my research method to illuminate this potential. The activity of matter reveals that it carries its own autonomy. In English, this is also referred to as agency, a term that cannot be translated into Dutch. Although this isn't a new concept and is an accepted fact in science, I encounter it daily in my studio. This agency demonstrates that we humans are not merely spectators, projecting meaning onto our surroundings, but rather co-inhabitants of a multiple reality. My moving sculptures demonstrate this connection to the greater whole: the so-called more-than-human.

Contact:

E-mail: yip.stals@outlook.com
Instagram: @yip.geert.stals