Catalogue published on the occasion of the exhibition “Élan Vital” at the Transit Gallery (Mechelen, Belgium) from March 1 to May 31, 2026.

I write this myself: no chatbox, no AI, no friend, no spirit.

To tell a story without using the words ‘final‘, ’the end’
or ‘definitive’. Simply bearing witness to a moment of transformation: a young art student in the whirlwind of Chambres d’amis, explaining the invisible artwork of Robin Winters and encountering two teachers with ambitions to start an art gallery.

A series of exhibitions followed over the next thirty-six years, with titles that sound like poems.

This book is the trace of fleeting memories before they all disappear: like the yellowed, fading pages of faxes from the 1980s, a bundle of photographs thrown onto a table, bringing back sound, anger, and a long-vanished energy.

They have a physical presence; they are almost relics. A tribute to the energy, the courage, the perseverance, the motivation, and the belief of Bert & Dirk. All of this now belongs to a distant past. What remains is love, this undefined thing we call love, and time.

On the other side of all this lie the maquettes of large-scale sculptures, scattered like dreams.

And finally, a bird, half human, towering above Ma Tombe.

Johan Creten, March 15, 2026