In the past 17 years I have spent a lot of time writing code, working in the virtual realm. Given all the time spent on these virtual projects, it's confronting to realize how little material proof remains in the end of all these endeavours. Sometimes it feels like you're just adding time to a never ending black hole. That's why I decided to create a visual artifact, a visual testimony to this time spent.

When you look back on your life of course you ask the question: Why? Why did I do this? Why have I made this choice? The realization of transience automatically confronts you with 'the big questions'. Why am I alive? What's my purpose? Why do I do what I do? You could say, the big questions of life that got their place in the religious/spiritual realms and institutions of society, are now found in the desolated data desserts of our time. Probabilities. Statistics. The machine.

But in a God-forsaken society, where God has been declared dead for a long time, it's up to ourselves to find meaning, create meaning in the reality of the post-general-relativity-world. I guess this project is such an attempt.

I've created images of all my python projects (as these projects are generally art related) of the past 5 years. I've then chopped those images up in equal blocks of different sizes. And those blocks are used to create a new composition where 4 different perspectives are placed in a cross composition. Of course, the cross, a universal symbol, is not a coincidence. As much as some would like to believe that we are living in a post-religious society. Life inevitably throws religious questions at you nevertheless.

After I made these abstract compositions, I decided to use them to rebuild fragments of 'Het Lam Gods' by Van Eyck. In an attempt to confront the symbolical, religious way of existential meaning, with a more modern, fragmented way to search for meaning. There's several reasons why I chose this painting. It's of course very famous; an icon. But that's not the main reason. I've had a personal experience a few years ago, because of which I could not get the image of God, as painted by Van Eyck, out of my head. I was in a doctor's cabinet, and an assistent was drawing my blood while I was talking to the doctor. All of a sudden I was staring into the eyes of a creature that I can not decribe in any other way than as the God painted by Van Eyck. There was also a throne and a magnificent golden room. It felt more real than anything I've ever experienced. The only difference with the painting was that this creature only had 1 eye. It was staring at me in complete silence and peace. Apparently I lost consciousness for about 15 seconds. From the eye of God I was now staring into the eys of my doctor who was standing right in front of me. I must've had a sudden drop in blood pressure. Anyway, I could never forget this remarkable experience, and when I was creating the cross-like compositions the idea popped up to confront them with 'het Lam Gods'. Initially I tried to cut fragments manually from the painting, but I did not like the predictability of the compositions. That's why I wrote an algorithm that divides the painting in equal parts automatically. As I did not want to consciously steer meaning by selecting certain area's of the painting. To me it feels like the machinal approach bridges the divide between Van Eyck's practice of image making, and my own way of image making. Of course later on the images are further chopped up by 'the machine', as they reflect my way of thinking, and my lack of clear answers. If anything, I have a never ending stream of questions, and thus the images never really reach a final state. They're either always changing, or part of a series of changes. However the ritual, the act of the creation is what brings me closest to the wonder of creation itself - or God if you want to reflect upon it through Van Eyck's eyes.

Next to the cross composition I've added more spontaneous 'sketches', that were created intuitivly after the cross composition was completed.

July 6th 2023, Ghent BE

project by Dries Hoornaert

PS: More philosophical reflections will be added here soon: reflections