Art van
Triest

Central to Art van Triest's work is the human tendency to fight fundamental fear and insecurity with order — a system. He sees this as a coping mechanism: an attempt to get a grip on the world around us, stemming from a deep need for control, or the illusion of control.

He investigates this tendency to frame reality in systems at multiple levels. It is anchored in our thinking: we divide the world around us into categories and use rational constructs to define differences and make connections. This also shapes our world concretely — from spreadsheets to urban planning, agriculture and architecture.

Van Triest's work is a visual investigation questioning how this frame relates to the physical reality of the world around us. He sees the grid as too straightforward a way of relating to reality. With his work he offers a visual counterbalance to the simplification and standardization of our environment and way of thinking, striving for a more realistic positioning of man, in which we can relate to reality in a more complete way.

“Art van Triest questions the linearity of our ideal of manufacturability. As if we can (know) and put everything into boxes. The rational, geometrically determined structure of the grid is the ultimate representative of it for him. (…) it can be found in many subtle and less subtle variations worldwide in city plans and in architecture. For Van Triest, the grid and thus rational, linear thinking is not innocent.” — Architectural historian Astrid Aarsen on the solo exhibition Grids, Kunstenlab, 2020

With his work, Van Triest looks for visual, evocative forms to communicate his thoughts about how the controlling and sometimes polarizing grid literally and visually influences how we perceive and shape our environment.