Egied Simons facilitates looking. By giving the whole a tight shape, smaller more detailed forms get the attention. His growing installations are instruments that are programmed with seeds, offshoots or rhizomes depending on their environment. The duration of the exhibition helps to determine this. Within this framework, playing with nature takes place. He is not looking for a solidified moment in time, but for the whole process of growth. It is clear that Egied Simons is not concerned with a theatrical action.

Simons investigates the strategies plants use to get a foothold in the earth and to absorb food. He experiments with pigments that are also nutrients. Then again, he allows seeds to germinate, exposing different growth structures. He also made light installations in which he scanned the contours of bushes using lasers.

The work has a strong investigative character and often touches on science. The forms and movements of vegetation and organisms fascinate him and are the material with which he works.

He also likes to make use of the knowledge of the people in the place where he exhibits. At Steck, he heard of a particular orchid that has a special root growth. This plant is now the guiding principle in the installation he made for Art on Full Ground.

Most works are developed specifically for a particular place. Often they are temporary works for in an exhibition or in an outdoor location. There is a certain expectation of the outcome, but nature never quite allows itself to be predicted and plays with it.

This art requires maintenance and a rhythmic, ritualistic way of working. There is a certain time frame and within it the work must emerge. Nature determines the final work of art.

www.egiedsimons.nl