Karte und Gebiet Joost Colpaert

What, if any, is the link between trembling drops of water on a bonnet and a man carrying water to the sea? Does it refer to our powerlessness, our helplessness? Are we not, all too often, leading lives boxed up in our rooms, cocooning, as if we were carrying a bucket on the head? These questions may well lead us to Breughel’s “The Blind leading the Blind” and Cervantes’ “Don Quixote”.
Human folly as an inherent part of our existence does not only show in the videos “Struggle for Water” and “Water-carrier”, but also in the maps and landscapes referring to the same theme: bird’s eye views of landscapes showing jagged coastlines and maps with drop-like shapes.
At first sight one sees urban development, political and various other motives, woven into a labyrinth-like ground plan. Though charming, these works do not give up their secrets immediately. They raise questions and provoke the visitor’s curiosity, their true meaning seeping through slowly afterwards.