drek en veren (droppings and feathers) is part of EVEN I MUST UNDERSTAND IT, Benjamin Verdonck’s new cycle of ‘actions’ in the public space. Verdonck’s motivation for this new cycle are the imminent changes we can expect in our ecosystem, which will be difficult to reverse.

Verdonck: “The time has come for me to do more than speak and read about this subject; I want to create a work that is autonomous, but crystal-clear in its commitment. For example, for drek en veren I plan to create inordinate swallows’ nests. You will recognize them, but they will be too large and the crap underneath them excessive. So you will sense that the birds are back, but that they are far larger and more numerous than you thought. This plays on our fear of the unfamiliar, of the unknown: malaria mosquitoes in Belgium, strange mutations, strains of avian flu, etc.”

drek en veren is presented as the bizarre mutation of what was once an ordinary swallow’s nest. One that leaves behind a trail so vast that it cannot go unnoticed …