The Opening

Although Meert is best known for his large-scale paintings, he also works in other disciplines, including video. He has been working in this medium since the late 2010s and early 2020s.

The title of the series refers to the low-resolution, VGA-color animated screensavers of the 1990s, such as Flying Windows, Starfields, or Mistify. This generic term eventually became the qualifier used by the artist to talk about his video productions. He sees them as retro wallpapers, without beginning or end, the degree zero, in his view, of narrative. The videos are both analogue and digital. They are made from painted or drawn backgrounds, which, when scanned, serve as the backdrops for his minimalist stagings. Produced especially for his videos, these paintings have an intrinsic quality of décor. They seem almost to be waiting for a presence.

At the same time, Meert films various micro-actions in front of a green cinema backdrop. The artist stages himself in repetitive situations.

Among the Screensavers, The Opening is the most representative of his attraction to the analogue culture of the 1980s. For this video, Meert paints a retro discotheque set in oil (80 x 60 cm). He depicts himself in the centre of the scene, naked, doing endless push-ups. The pumping action echoes the ever-increasing performances expected of an artist.