Van Acker explores human connection beyond borders and identity, as well as presenting an almost tangible consequence of our decisions and effects to those coming after our time. With the aspect of past visitors leaving their traces, a current visitor is invited to observe and follow the decision making and actions of an individual that does not have an identity. In a way, the visitor is the one that receives the consequences of previous trains of thought and behaviors, having no say in this process but to only be in for the ride. Naturally, the present visitor is now in charge of either following what is set in front of them, or create a new path and gifting the future visitor with an experience they though to be suiting.

This is a near perfect metaphor of conscious decision making, based on what those before us did and informed in what we want to create in for future populations. Our power, though it may seem as small as a thin line, will echo into what future generations will have to experience and the circumstances they will have to flourish and explore themselves. The future is uncertain, but it belongs to those that are creating the trace today. What will we leave for future visitors? How will actions today affect the future? Conscious application of action is imperative, everything we decide, we trace, and follow will dictate what our future society will have placed in front of them. Van Acker’s work serves as an outline of cause and effect, where the repercussions of our present actions are too visible to ignore in any and all concerns of society. Our trace will be all that is left, and it will be the most important legacy you will leave to the future. Will future generations have a seamless path to follow towards society’s end goals? Or will they have to start from square one to build a society that can thrive in the long term?

text by Juanita Pineda Oviedo

Commissioned by TETEM.