een steen dagzoomt*
*Dutch verb:
where a rock layer or other geologic structure appears on the surface
in situ intervention in the clay quarry of Terhagen (Belgium)
documented through photography and video, 2023-2024
I live in Boom (Belgium) and found a handmade brick on one of my walks along the river Rupel. I took it to the still operational clay quarry at the neighboring Terhagen, run by Wienerberger. From the 16th century, clay was mined on a large scale in the Rupel region. The traces of industrial history still mark the landscape with ruins of brickwork and deeply excavated pits. Over several seasons this past year, when workers had gone home and the quarry was shut down, I secretly worked my way down the slope and made my mark in the grey clay deposited by the Oligocene sea over thirty million years ago.
I felt the urge to use a handmade brick, as a physical marker that temporarily engages in a dialogue with the landscape and its past. When I returned to see what remained of my imprint after the winter, the mark was still there.
The act of touching the grey surface became a repetitive ritual, and each time I felt more at ease descending into the clay mine. I no longer felt like an intruder. I recognized my footsteps among those of birds and deer.
Expo view at Masters exhibition, Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp, 2024
