Stijn ter Braak

With the installation he elevates a recognizable reality to art: a street such as you might encounter in Flanders, where Ter Braak lives and works. Complete with zebra crossing and tram track, exactly tailored to the twenty-five meter long 'shop window' along the ramp, but upside down. Visitors get the opportunity to experience an average street walk from a different perspective.

For this new work, Ter Braak is inspired by, among other things, the sometimes surreal Belgian landscape, baroque ceiling paintings and ecclesiastical architecture. The common denominator between these phenomena and Ter Braak's working method? Fooling the viewer's eye with trompe l'oeil effects. By turning a stretch of road upside down, depth suddenly becomes height and he allows the visitor to look again at everyday traces of the street scene, such as weeds between paving stones, discarded cups and roadblocks.

Based on his fascination with everyday reality, after studying painting at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Ter Braak started recreating his belongings from discarded materials. On a full scale, he uses found objects to recreate the appearance of his living room, bedroom and bathroom. Always with a twist: Ter Braak plays with familiarity and alienation in his installations, such as a mirror that does not reflect or a perspective that turns your stomach. The artist also made Weg with everyday materials such as styrofoam, cardboard and carpet. Everything looks lifelike to the visitor in HALL 6, but walkers outside on the ramp see the raw back of the installation. It is clear to them that it is a paper-thin illusion.