Kristof Thomas’ (b. 1995, Belgium) work is radical and ruthless. Harsh colours, crisp images, manipulated to the unrecognizable. The visitor steps into montages of food and electrical wires in unnaturally bright colours, chemically screaming, often digitally smeared and heavily edited. All indexical references are chopped up and deconstructed: the work is much less about consumption than it is about process. Not a traditional process, such as the analogue, which possesses the magical power of unpredictability. On the contrary, Thomas is in full control, he lets the beast sweat till it is down. He is not into magic but into sorcery. He creates artificial images, with no interest in reality as it manifests itself. Donella Meadows wrote that the universe is a chaotic mess but that this shouldn’t be depressing. If we, as industrial humans, can lay off our desire for control and be alert to surprises, willing to learn, to adapt each time, to dance with the system, then all is possible. That's what Kristof Thomas does. His work is a confrontation with loops, errors and distortions that do not cause the system to fail but make it more flexible. He experiments, doubts his surroundings and tries out all his devices. He releases his work on paper, on cardboard: sloppy, framed, sculptural, flat, on the floor, on the wall. Pushes out his uncertainty with cheeky confidence and leaves us guessing. Until we surrender and spin around the room.
Text by Barbara Debeuckelaere
