Robert Devriendt — À propos — Slash Paris

“The first thing I noticed about him, was the crying predator. The head of a crying predator. Head, nose, mouth, eyes and a tear. At once there was a story and the element of recognition that causes us to become absorbed by the story. It is said that people are attracted by stories. I think that stories are attracted by people. That people are a home for stories, a dwelling place where all those stories, tales, concoctions and fantasies withdraw, till one day, at an uncertain hour, at an uncalculated moment, in an flash, because of some sound, scent, feeling, word or image, they tell themselves. Like the fire that withdraws inside the wood and flares up because of a draught, of a breeze that happens to blow. Give me a fragment, a scrap and if it works out, my body will tell the rest—it knows more that I can ever guess and without needlessly wasting time it will tell what has to be told now. Fragments are dear to me. They leave me more space than the deliberate construction that all too often imposes itself upon me, crippling my fantasies. The fire remains deep inside the logs — not fanned by this construction. Ruins appeals to me because the story of the ruin lives within myself. That is what Robert Devriendt does for me: he presents beautiful fragments to me, carefully chosen scraps, a window. He is like a breeze — Robert the Breeze.”